Biochemical characterization of grain iron and zinc content in little millet genotypes

Abstract

Little millet is an important climate resilient crop and a rich source of micronutrients particularly iron and zinc, thus can be helpful to combat iron and zinc malnutrition. Iron and Zinc are two of the most important micronutrients. The present study was carried out for estimation of grain iron and zinc content of 26 little millet genotypes using atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The results depicted significant variation in iron concentrations ranging from 21.03 ppm to 60.23 ppm whereas zinc content ranging from 22.28 ppm to 30.37 ppm. Among the different genotypes of little millet, the highest grain iron content was found in genotype OLM-203 (60.233±0.145 ppm) and the lowest in genotype WV-156 (21.033±0.088 ppm). Similarly, significant variations in the grain zinc content of little millet were also obtained. The highest zinc content was found in the genotype TNPS-173 (30.377±0.011 ppm) and the lowest zinc content was found in genotype WV-168 (22.28±0.024 ppm). The grouping of the genotypes showed that most of the genotypes (17 for zinc and 18 for iron content) were found to contain medium range of grain iron and zinc. The study thus showed the presence of significant amount of grain iron and zinc in the little millet genotypes which can be useful for malnutrition mitigation problem.