Sunday 14 June 2015

Difference between Cereals and Millets

Difference Cereals Millets
Origin of word/Meaning From greek Goddess Ceres, whom Romans worshipped as giver of grain.

Cereals are the grasses that belong to the ‘Graminaceae family’. 

They generally require more rainfall than millets
Term is applied to several species of cereals which produce small grains compared to maize. 

Millet is a small grained annual cereal and forage grass that is widely grown in dry regions.
Total Number Main cereals: Barley, Maize, Oats, Rice, Rye, wheat, Sorghum etc. Main Millets are: Pearl Millet, Pros MIllet, Foxtail MIllet, Jowar and Ragi (aka Finger Millet) 
Nutritional Value Rich in Carbohydrates (60-70%). Also have Proteins, Fats and Vitamins They are easy to digest and also contain a high percentage of minerals like magnesium, phosphorous and potassium apart from other nutrion like protein, fat and vitamins
Extra info: cereals are composed of endosperm, germ and bran.

1. Endosperm: a food storage tissue present in the seed. It is the starchy part of the grain that remains after the refining of cereals; generally obtained by removal of germ and bran.

2. Germ: it is the reproductive part of the cereal that germinates and later grows into a plant.

3.Bran: the outer covering of a cereal grain is known as bran. It is used as a source of dietary fibre.

Drought resistance, grown almost for local human consumption though in India we are trying to grow them at larger scale specially Jowar and Ragi. Also used in Poultry

Short growing season and High productivity

6 comments:

  1. sorghum is considered as millet.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Am bit confused about Millet and cereals....what is criteria of it's classification.....both are grain but do not come in the category of cereals???

    ReplyDelete
  3. millets also come under cereals

    ReplyDelete