Nutritional and Antioxidant Profile of Finger Millet-Based Composite Flour Biscuits

Abstract

Finger millet is often proposed as a partial replacement for refined wheat flour in biscuits, on the grounds that it is rich in fibre, calcium and phenolic compounds with antioxidant activity. This narrative review asks what a defensible nutritional and antioxidant profile of a finger millet composite-flour biscuit would look like, using published work on millet composition, cereal phenolics, mineral availability, antioxidant assays and the science of biscuit making. It reports no new data and no biscuits were analysed by the authors. A biscuit made with a share of finger millet flour is likely to be richer in fibre, calcium and phenolics than a refined-wheat equivalent, but the size of the difference depends on the proportion of millet, whether the bran is retained and the variety used. Phytate and tannins reduce how much of the mineral content is absorbed, and antioxidant values from test-tube assays differ with method and extraction and do not translate directly into benefit for consumers. Baking can lower, preserve or release phenolics, and also forms acrylamide, so raw-grain figures cannot stand in for the finished product. Claims about diabetes and health are better described as promising than proven. The review closes with the measurements a decisive study of the baked biscuit should contain.