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Little millet

Panicum sumatrense
Teluguసామలు SamaluHindiकुटकी KutkiTamilசாமை SamaiKannadaಸಾಮೆ SameMarathiसावा Sava

Names: ICAR-Indian Institute of Millets Research; Telugu as on our pack

Ishva packs little millet — on the shelf at DMart.See the product →

Pictures

Little millet: The grain
The grain — from: "Little Millet.jpg" by Tonynirappathu, Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Little_Millet.jpg), cropped · CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)

Hear it pour

Our own pack of little millet, opened and poured into a steel bowl — filmed on a phone, nothing added.

Turn the sound on: the grain has its own sound as it falls.

Nutrition of the raw grain, per 100 g

Energy346 kcal
Protein10.13 g
Fat3.89 g
Carbohydrate (available)65.55 g
Dietary fibre (total)7.72 g
Calcium16.06 mg
Iron1.26 mg
Magnesium91.41 mg
Phosphorus130 mg
Zinc1.82 mg

Source: Indian Food Composition Tables 2017, ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition, food code A016 (Samai). Energy converted from kilojoules (1 kcal = 4.184 kJ).

Every nutrient in the raw grain — 90 values, per 100 g

Energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate, fibre9
Water (moisture)11.36 g
Protein10.13 g
Ash (total minerals)1.34 g
Fat3.89 g
Dietary fibre (total)7.72 g
Insoluble fibre5.45 g
Soluble fibre2.27 g
Carbohydrate (available)65.55 g
Energy1449 kJ
Starch and sugars5
Available carbohydrate (starch + sugars)56.43 g
Starch56.07 g
Glucose0.24 g
Sucrose0.13 g
Free sugars (total)0.37 g

Not detected in this grain (the table leaves it blank or zero): Fructose, Maltose.

Minerals5
Calcium16.06 mg
Magnesium91.41 mg
Phosphorus130 mg
Potassium105 mg
Sodium4.77 mg
Trace elements8
Chromium0.016 mg
Cobalt0.001 mg
Copper0.34 mg
Iron1.26 mg
Manganese0.23 mg
Molybdenum0.02 mg
Selenium40.41 µg
Zinc1.82 mg
Vitamins13
Thiamine (B1)0.26 mg
Riboflavin (B2)0.05 mg
Niacin (B3)1.29 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5)0.6 mg
Vitamin B60.04 mg
Biotin (B7)6.03 µg
Folate (B9)36.2 µg
Vitamin D2 (ergocalciferol)3.75 µg
Vitamin E: alpha-tocopherol0.28 mg
Vitamin E: beta-tocopherol0.67 mg
Vitamin E: gamma-tocotrienol0.28 mg
Vitamin E (alpha-tocopherol equivalents)0.55 mg
Vitamin K14.47 µg

Not detected in this grain (the table leaves it blank or zero): Vitamin E: alpha-tocotrienol, Vitamin E: delta-tocopherol, Vitamin E: gamma-tocopherol.

Carotenoids4
Lutein7.82 µg
Zeaxanthin5.24 µg
Beta-carotene1.91 µg
Carotenoids (total)120 µg
Amino acids18 · g per 100 g of protein
Histidine2.35 g
Isoleucine4.14 g
Leucine8.08 g
Lysine2.42 g
Methionine2.21 g
Cystine1.85 g
Phenylalanine6.14 g
Threonine4.24 g
Tryptophan1.35 g
Valine5.31 g
Alanine8.6 g
Arginine5.96 g
Aspartic acid5.51 g
Glutamic acid20.22 g
Glycine3.43 g
Proline6.04 g
Serine5.6 g
Tyrosine3.43 g
Fatty acids8
Palmitic acid (C16:0)487 mg
Stearic acid (C18:0)102 mg
Oleic acid (C18:1)868 mg
Linoleic acid (C18:2, omega-6)1230 mg
Alpha-linolenic acid (C18:3, omega-3)47.2 mg
Saturated fat (total)589 mg
Monounsaturated fat (total)868 mg
Polyunsaturated fat (total)1277 mg

Not detected in this grain (the table leaves it blank or zero): Arachidic acid (C20:0), Behenic acid (C22:0), Capric acid (C10:0), Eicosenoic acid (C20:1), Erucic acid (C22:1), Lauric acid (C12:0), Lignoceric acid (C24:0), Myristic acid (C14:0), Myristoleic acid (C14:1), Palmitoleic acid (C16:1).

Organic acids7
Oxalate (total)6.74 mg
Oxalate (soluble)5.4 mg
Oxalate (insoluble)1.61 mg
Fumaric acid0.37 mg
Malic acid0.51 mg
Succinic acid2.35 mg
Tartaric acid6.07 mg

Not detected in this grain (the table leaves it blank or zero): Citric acid, Quinic acid, cis-Aconitic acid.

Polyphenols7
Protocatechuic acid0.16 mg
Vanillic acid0.05 mg
p-Coumaric acid0.37 mg
Caffeic acid0.67 mg
Chlorogenic acid2.79 mg
Ferulic acid0.39 mg
Polyphenols (total)14.24 mg

Not detected in this grain (the table leaves it blank or zero): 3,4-Dihydroxybenzoic acid, 3-Hydroxybenzaldehyde, Apigenin, Apigenin-7-O-neohesperidoside, Catechin, Cinnamic acid, Gallic acid, Isorhamnetin, Kaempferol, Luteolin, Quercetin, Quercetin-3-galactoside, Quercetin-3-glucoside, Quercetin-3-rutinoside (rutin), Sinapic acid, o-Coumaric acid.

Phytosterols3
Campesterol10.7 mg
Stigmasterol3.07 mg
Beta-sitosterol73.44 mg
Other compounds3
Raffinose0.01 g
Phytate265 mg
Saponins (total)0.44 g

Not detected in this grain (the table leaves it blank or zero): Stachyose.

Source, one for the whole list: Indian Food Composition Tables 2017, ICMR-NIN. Values exactly as the table prints them; published values for the grain, not a laboratory test of our packs. Tap a name for what it is and does.

Where it comes from

  • Evidence points to the Indian peninsula as the origin of little millet. (FAO — International Year of Millets 2023)
  • Archaeobotanists find little millet as a crop at Harappa as early as its Ravi phase, and as a staple of protohistoric Gujarat. (Weber & Fuller, 'Millets and their role in early agriculture')

In India’s old books

  • The Tamil Lexicon records cāmai as little millet (Panicum miliare). (Tamil Lexicon)

Recipes