Revisiting minor millets as an underutilised super food for enduring global food security

TL;DR

Minor millets are nutritious, climate-resilient crops that can improve food security and nutrition in vulnerable regions.

Contribution

This review offers a novel integrative perspective on minor millets' potential for climate resilience and nutrition.

Findings

Minor millets are highly nutritious and can be considered 'super foods'.

Non-thermal processing technologies may improve millet utilization.

Millets support food security in climate-vulnerable regions.

Abstract

The growing global dependence on major cereals such as rice and wheat has intensified concerns over food and nutrition security, particularly among marginalized populations facing supply and climate challenges. This underscores the urgent need to diversify cropping systems by promoting resilient alternatives. Minor millets including finger, foxtail, proso, barnyard, kodo, and little millets represent a group of underutilised cereals with exceptional adaptability to harsh environmental conditions and low-input agriculture. This review synthesizes recent findings on the agronomic, nutritional, and socio-economic potential of minor millets as sustainable staple crops in food-insecure and climate-vulnerable regions. Despite being a synthesis of existing studies, this review offers a novel integrative perspective by re-evaluating previous research through the lens of climate resilience, nutritional security, and livelihood improvement. It emphasizes underexplored aspects such as the comparative adaptability of different millet species and their role in localized food systems providing actionable insights for research, and development.

•Minor millets can be considered as ‘super foods’ or ‘smart foods’ because they are a powerhouse of nutrition.•The non-thermal processing technologies offer potential benefits over conventional methods.•The crucial health benefits of minor millets have been demonstrated with examples from recent studies.•Minor millets are beneficial in ensuring higher food security.

Minor millets can be considered as ‘super foods’ or ‘smart foods’ because they are a powerhouse of nutrition.

The non-thermal processing technologies offer potential benefits over conventional methods.

The crucial health benefits of minor millets have been demonstrated with examples from recent studies.

Minor millets are beneficial in ensuring higher food security.

Figures