Domesticated in 8000–10,000 BP in northern China, proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.) is the best adaptive rotational crop for semiarid central High Plains of the USA, where average annual ...precipitation is 356–407 mm. Proso millet has multiple benefits when consumed as human food. Proso millet is rich in minerals, dietary fiber, polyphenols, vitamins and proteins. It is gluten-free and therefore, ideal for the gluten intolerant people. Proso millet contains high lecithin which supports the neural health system. It is rich in vitamins (niacin, B-complex vitamins, folic acid), minerals (P, Ca, Zn, Fe) and essential amino acids (methionine and cysteine). It has a low glycemic index and reduces the risk of type-2 diabetes. Unfortunately, in the USA, it is mostly considered as bird feed, whereas it is mainly used as human food in many other countries. Besides human health benefits, proso millet has an impeccable environmental benefit. Proso millet possesses many unique characteristics (e.g., drought tolerance, short-growing season) which makes it a promising rotational crop for winter wheat-based dryland farming systems. Proso millet provides the most economical production system when used in a two years wheat/summer fallow cropping system in semiarid High Plains of the USA. It helps in controlling winter annual grass weeds, managing disease and insect pressure and preserving deep soil moisture for wheat. Proso millet can also be used as a rotational crop with corn or sorghum owing to its tolerance for atrazine, the primary herbicide used in corn and sorghum production systems. Proso millet certainly is a climate-smart, gluten-free, ancient, and small grain cereal, which is healthy to humans and the environment. The main challenge is to expand the proso millet market beyond bird feed into the human food industry. To overcome the challenge, unique proso millet varieties for human food and ready-to-use multiple food products must be developed. This requires successful collaboration among experts from diverse disciplines such as breeders, geneticists, food chemists and food industry partners.
The study is intended to find a more effective farming practice for improving proso millet production in semi-arid regions of China and a fast real-time method of estimating effects of ridging ...treatments on the growth and yield of proso millet. An experiment was conducted to investigate soil water contents (SWCs), soil temperatures, water use efficiencies (WUEs), growths and grain yields of proso millet in 2014 and 2015 in Yulin, Shaanxi, China. In the experiment, a control treatment (CK, a convention farming without mulching) and six ridging and mulching combined treatments were tested. The ridging treatments mostly improved the soil moistures, WUEs, growths and grain yields of proso millet compared with the CK. The highest grain yields of proso millet appeared in the ridging treatment with hills and furrows plastic film mulched (RHFPFM) in both of the years. Because of its beneficial effects in SWC, WUE and leaf area index (LAI), RHFPFM improved the growth of proso millet and increased its yield by 31.3%-35.3% in the experimental years. These benefits mostly intensified with the extensions of the corresponding mulched areas. The LAI was shown to have close relations with the aboveground dry matter, crop growth rate and yield of proso millet. The LAI regression formulae developed in the study would provide useful information for growth monitoring and yield estimation of proso millet in the ridging treatments. In this study, the RHFPFM was recommended as an effective farming practice for improving the growth and yield of proso millet in semi-arid regions of China.
Connections between prosociality and antisocial behaviors have been recognized; however, little research has studied their developmental links longitudinally. This is important to illuminate during ...early adolescence as a sensitive period for social development in which prosociality could protect against the development of later antisocial behaviors. This study investigates the within-person developmental links between prosociality and antisocial behaviors, as well as a potential mediating role of peer relationships, across ages 11, 13, and 15 ( N = 1526; 51% male) using random-intercept cross-lagged panel models. Results indicated that neither self-reported nor teacher-reported prosociality was associated with reduced aggressive behaviors but suggested a direct protective (‘promotive’) effect of teacher-reported prosociality on bullying perpetration. These findings suggest that promoting prosociality in early adolescence may help reduce some antisocial behaviors over early to mid-adolescent development. Improving prosociality could be explored as a target in intervention approaches such as school-based anti-bullying interventions.
•Proso millet protein was extracted by either wet milling or aqueous ethanol.•Curcumin loaded nanoparticles were prepared using millet protein and caseinate.•Solubility and heat stability of curcumin ...were greatly improved by encapsulation.•Encapsulation showed no impact on the antioxidant activities of curcumin.•Ethanol-extracted protein showed better hydrophobicity and encapsulation behavior.
Encapsulation of lipophilic bioactive compounds using plant-derived proteins as delivery systems has received increasing interest. In this study, proso millet protein was extracted by either wet milling or 60% (v/v) aqueous ethanol and then used as the wall material to encapsulate curcumin. Millet protein was composed of prolamines that showed a significant difference in surface hydrophobicity depending on extraction procedure. The millet protein-curcumin nanoparticles were spherical with diameter around 250–350nm. The entrapment efficiency ranged from 11.2% to 78.9%, with millet protein extracted by ethanol showing better performance than that by wet milling process. The encapsulated curcumin exhibited a lower degradation rate than free curcumin at 60°C. The encapsulation showed no negative effect on the antioxidant activity of curcumin as assessed by the DPPH and ABTS assays. These results suggested that MP could be a promising encapsulant for the delivery of lipophilic compounds.
Previously proso-millet, considered an underutilized cereal, has drawn considerable attention due to health benefits like good nutritional profile, low glycemic index, and gluten-free. The present ...review discusses starch extractability, structural characteristics, morphology, and physicochemical properties. Starch properties mainly depend on the amylose and amylopectin composition and distribution of brained chains. A very diverse starch structure and morphology were observed among the waxy and non-waxy cultivars. The amylose content ranged from 0.75 to 28.3% in many varieties, but exceptionally Hongmeizi variety showed a 32.3% as per the reported evidence. There are a positive correlation between the amylose content and cooking quality, thermal and pasting properties. The size and shape of smallest to largest starch granules varied between 0.3 and 17 μm and round to polygonal, respectively. The non-waxy starch varieties of proso-millet are widely used in food processing due to high resistance to swelling during heat treatment. Few food applications of proso-millet are bakery products like gluten-free bread, porridge, pasta, ready-to-eat breakfast cereals, infant foods, and distilleries. We can conclude that proso millet is an alternative to existing starch for its quality characteristics and provides insight to many food processing industries.
•Proso-millet is an underutilized crop and rich in minerals, vitamins, and proteins.•Isolation, composition, and properties of proso millet starch is summarized.•Proso-millet starch has been modified physically, chemically, and enzymatically.•Digestibility studies reflected the presence of resistant starch with low GI.•Industrial applications of proso millet starch are outlined in the review.
•Proso millet pasta displayed differences to commercial gluten-free and wheat pasta.•Cooked millet pasta had low protein solubility and high β-sheet content.•Millet protein profile and conformation ...affected functional properties of the pasta.•Protein solubility correlated with digestibility and cooking loss of millet pasta.
Proso millet exhibits favorable agronomic and nutritional properties but is currently under-utilized in the northern hemisphere. This study compared processing-induced changes in protein characteristics of commercial pasta to fresh gluten-free pasta from proso millet varieties differing in prolamin profile. Protein solubility, accessible thiols and secondary structures were measured in dough, sheeted and cooked pasta. Relationships between protein conformation and characteristics related to pasta quality were determined. Cooking significantly lowered protein solubility and induced exposure of thiol groups as well as a shift in secondary structure distribution, while sheeting only had a minor effect. Random structures positively and significantly (P < 0.05) correlated with solubility, cooking loss and protein digestibility. In contrast, β-sheets, the main secondary structure in cooked pasta, negatively correlated with these properties. The utilization of proso millet in gluten-free pasta is promising, however, processing optimization to elicit targeted protein modifications to balance quality and nutritional attributes requires further investigation.
Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the morphology, granule size, fine structure, thermal properties, and pasting properties of starch from a waxy (139) and a non-waxy (297) varieties of ...proso millet grown in Yulin (YY) and Yangling (YL). Compared with the starches from the two varieties grown in YY, the starches from the two varieties grown in YL exhibited higher relative crystallinities, 1045/1022 cm−1 ratio, and amounts of amylopectin long branch chains (APL) but lower 1022/995 cm −1 ratio, amounts of amylopectin short branch chains (APs), and APs/APL ratios. Starches from YL also synthesized long branch-chain amylopectin to enhance intermolecular interactions and form a stable granular structure, which resulted in increased starch gelatinization temperature, enhanced shear resistance, and reduced setback viscosity. Starch from the waxy (139) variety has good application prospects in the food industry because of its high gelatinization temperature and light transmittance and low setback value, which can be ascribed to its extremely low amylose content, polydispersity index, high molecular weight, and dispersed molecular density. It may serve as a reference for applying proso millet starches in the food industry and developing breeding programs to improve starch quality.
•Proso millet were grown in different ecological regions, Yulin (YY) and Yangling (YL).•Compared with YY, starch from YL showed higher amylose content and ratio of long chain.•High weight-average molecular weight increased the gelatinization temperature.•High amylose content or large granules of starch increased setback viscosity.•Starch of waxy (139) variety had good application prospects in the food industry.
This work aimed to investigate the hypoglycemic effects and underlying mechanism of whole grain proso millet (Panicum miliaceum L.; WPM) on type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). The results showed that ...WPM supplementation significantly reduced fasting blood glucose (FBG) and serum lipid levels in T2DM mice induced by a high-fat diet (HFD) combined with streptozotocin (STZ), with improved glucose tolerance, liver and kidney injury, and insulin resistance. In addition, WPM significantly inhibited the expression of gluconeogenesis-related genes G6pase, Pepck, Foxo1, and Pgc -1α. Further study by miRNA high-throughput sequencing revealed that WPM supplementation mainly altered the liver miRNA expression profile of T2DM mice by increasing the expression of miR-144–3p_R-1 and miR-423–5p, reducing the expression of miR-22–5p_R-1 and miR-30a-3p. GO and KEGG analyses showed that the target genes of these miRNAs were mainly enriched in the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway. WPM supplementation significantly increased the level of PI3K, p-AKT, and GSK3β in the liver of T2DM mice. Taken together, WPM exerts antidiabetic effects by improving the miRNA profile and activating the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway to inhibit gluconeogenesis. This study implies that PM can act as a dietary supplement to attenuate T2DM.
The structural, physicochemical, gel textural, rheological, and in vitro digestibility properties as well as their relationships of non-waxy proso millet starch (NPMS) and waxy proso millet starch ...(WPMS) were evaluated by taking normal corn starch (CS) and potato starch (PS) as controls. Proso millet starch was mostly polygonal or spherical, with an A-type crystalline structure. Proso millet starch contained more short-branched chains (DP 6–24) compared with CS and PS. WPMS possessed higher crystallinity and more short-range ordered structures than NPMS. NPMS displayed higher pasting temperature, retrogradation rate and shear thinning degree, and lower gelatinization temperature and enthalpy than WPMS. The hardness and chewiness of starch gel formed by NPMS were higher than those of WPMS. All starch samples exhibited shear thinning behavior in the steady-flow test and typical elastic solid behavior in the dynamic rheological test. Moreover, NPMS was considered a potential formula for functional foods, with its lower rapidly digestible starch (RDS) and higher resistant starch (RS) contents than WPMS, CS, and PS. This paper revealed the influence of amylose content and structure on the physicochemical properties of different proso millet starch.
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Expression of FT genes from Foxtail mosaic virus triggers early flowering in millet and wheat, thereby establishing a virus-induced flowering assay in cereal crops.
Abstract
Virus-induced flowering ...(VIF) exploits RNA or DNA viruses to express flowering time genes to induce flowering in plants. Such plant virus-based tools have recently attracted widespread attention for their fundamental and applied uses in flowering physiology and in accelerating breeding in dicotyledonous crops and woody fruit-trees. We now extend this technology to a monocot grass and a cereal crop. Using a Foxtail mosaic virus (FoMV)-based VIF system, dubbed FoMViF, we showed that expression of florigenic Flowering Locus T (FT) genes can promote early flowering and spikelet development in proso millet, a C4 grass species with potential as a nutritional food and biofuel resource, and in non-vernalized C3 wheat, a major food crop worldwide. Floral and spikelet/grain induction in the two monocot plants was caused by the virally expressed untagged or FLAG-tagged FT orthologs, and the florigenic activity of rice Hd3a was more pronounced than its dicotyledonous counterparts in proso millet. The FoMViF system is easy to use and its efficacy to induce flowering and early spikelet/grain production is high. In addition to proso millet and wheat, we envisage that FoMViF will be also applicable to many economically important monocotyledonous food and biofuel crops.
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