2.1. Preparation of blends
To provide maximum nutritional benefit in bread, finger millet
grainwas malted and milled to flour. To obtain malted finger millet
flour (MFM), the finger millet grain at first was washed and cleaned
properly with water. Cleaned finger millet was steeped in thewater
at 30 C for 12 h and germinated at 25 C for 2 days in a sterile
moistened cloth bag kept in dark. Moistened conditions were
maintained throughout the germination period by spraying water.
The germinating grains were dried under direct sun on flat stainless
steel trays for 2 h to arrest germination. The dried germinated
grains were introduced into grinder mill to obtain malted finger
millet flour and the obtained flour was cooled and stored at 4 C in
air tight containers.
To prepare red kidney bean flour (RKF), the seeds were washed,
cleaned and kept for drying in hot air oven at 50 C for 12 h. The
dried seeds were then finely ground and stored at 4 C in air tight
containers.
The prepared flours i.e., MFM & RKF were then combined with
refined wheat flour at 10 g, 20 g, and 30 g level individually and the
quality of prepared breads was studied.