Healthy Coating for Fish Nuggets: Effects of Millet Batter on Coating Performance and Nutritional Composition

Abstract

The present study investigated the effects of substituting refined wheat flour (RFW) in conventional batter with different millet flours on the coating performance and nutritional quality of fish nuggets. Among the different millets used (pearl millet, sorghum and little millet), substitution of RWF with pearl millet flour significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the lightness (L*) and yellowness score (b*) of batter. At 20% substitution, the coating pick-up of millet batters was comparable (40.62 to 43.82%) to that of conventional batter (43.90%), but the pickup ratio decreased as the level of substitution increased up to 50%, regardless of the millets used (38.76-41.54%). The cooking yield of coated nuggets increased proportionally with the addition of millet flour in the batter. Substitution of maida with millet flour in the batter significantly enhanced the nutritional components, including protein and fat. However, the oil absorption by millet batters (285 to 667%) was significantly (p < 0.05) higher than that of the conventional batter (334%). Overall, the results of the study revealed that maida in conventional batter can be substituted with millet flour to enhance the coating performance and the nutritional quality of coated products.