Ready-to-use fermented little millet dosa mix as a sustainable functional food for nutrition security and climate-resilient food systems

Little millet ( Panicum sumatrense ) is an underutilized, drought-tolerant cereal that supports dietary diversification and food security. This study investigated the effect of 12-h fermentation on the physicochemical, cooking, functional, and nutritional properties of little millet and developed a ready-to-use (RTU) fermented little millet dosa batter. Fermentation enhanced grain hydration, swelling capacity, porosity, grain volume, and titratable acidity while reducing pH, grain weight, gelatinization temperature, and cooking time, resulting in improved processing characteristics and digestibility. Four millet-based formulations were evaluated for sensory quality, and the formulation containing little millet, rice, and black gram in a ratio of 5:2:3 achieved the highest consumer acceptability. The optimized RTU mix exhibited improved functional properties, including higher water solubility, oil retention, dispersibility, flowability, and cohesiveness. Nutritional evaluation showed increased protein (16.80%), crude fiber (7.53%), dietary fiber (11.48%), and ash (2.77%), with reduced fat (2.80%), carbohydrates (66.56%), and energy (366.19 kcal/100 g). Fermentation also increased total, reducing, and non-reducing sugars while decreasing starch, amylose, and amylopectin, indicating enhanced carbohydrate transformation. This RTU dosa mix has a shelf life of 45 days at ambient temperature. The study demonstrated that fermentation can effectively transform little millets into a consumer-acceptable, nutrient-rich RTU food, promoting value addition to underutilized nutricereals, supporting sustainable food systems through the utilization of climate-resilient crops, and providing healthier dietary choices and greater diversification of cereal-based convenience foods.