Production of low-fat grits from pearl millet

Pear millet contains more fat, protein and minerals than soft grains such as rice and millets such as sorghum. In spite of being nutritive, it has no place in the regular diet of the Indian people. Storability of pearl miller is poor and of its flour is poorer still due to its high fat content. Pearling of pearl millet has been tried as a means of producing low-fat pearled grains. Conditioning of the pearl millet has been investigated with a view to obtain in milling, different size fractions having different fat contents. It was found that conditioning with water at the rate of 35 mL/kg of the pearl miller produces low-fat grits (69%) having a fat content of 2.4% and a fat-rich fraction (12%) with fat content of 10%. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Limited.