Effect of parboiling treatment on de-husking of foxtail millet (Setaria italica L.)

Abstract

De-husking of foxtail millet is considered tedious work due to the small size of the millet. A study was performed to determine the de-husking parameters and also analyzing the quality of foxtail millet. The foxtail millet was soaked for 5h; then the millet was steamed for 10 ± 1 min in a laboratory-scale parboiling unit and then drying at 50 0C for 2 hours till the moisture content reaches 12% (w.b). An increase in length, breadth and thickness was observed from 2.66mm, 1.30mm and 1.32mm to 2.68mm, 1.41mm and 1.5mm, respectively. The thousand kernel weight and volume were also found to increase from 2.92g to 3g and 4ml to 5.5ml. The water absorption capacity of the millets was found to increase by three folds. The bulk density and packed density were also found to increase from 0.7462 g/ml to 0.5917g/ml and 0.7575 g/ml to 0.6578 g/ml, respectively. The colour of the millet was improved after the parboiling treatment. The head grain yield of the millet was found to increase from 63% to 77.5%. The brokens yield reduced from 18.5% to 2.5% after the parboiling treatment.