Abstract :

Pearl millet is an important source of nutrients for human diet. In the present study, four wild and improved Tunisian pearl millet varieties were evaluated in terms of their nutritional composition and rheological behaviors. The nutritional composition screening revealed that millet had important nutrients quantities namely, starch (59.17- 75.54 %), protein (9.19-14.6 %), ash (2.48-2.56 %), lipid (5-6.31%), β-carotene (0,059-0,097 mg/100 g) and total phenolic (0.26-0.39%). Principal components analysis showed that IRA1 (improved) and Jerbi (wild) varieties had the richest nutritional value, while Magrebi (wild) had high mineral and amylopectin contents. However, IRA2 (improved) variety had high amount of proteins. The rheological evaluation showed that all millet starch and flour depicted shear-thinning (pseudoplastic) behavior (n < 1) fitting perfectly to the Herschel–Bulkley model (R2 ranging from 0.98 to 0.99). These findings confirmed important genetic diversity between the studied seeds.