Impact of millet as a sustainable functional ingredient on nutritional and functional value of a novel kishk product

Abstract Millet is a nutrient-rich, drought-tolerant crop that can contribute to food security. Therefore, the world has recently become more interested in applying millet as a sustainable ingredient in foods. This study aimed to evaluate millet grains as a sustainable functional ingredient in novel functional kishk at 25, 50, 75, and 100% ratios compared to the control made from burghul. The impact of millet uses on physicochemical and phytochemical composition, as well as the microbial analysis of functional kishk was examined. The sensory properties of the fresh kishk were studied by 10 well-trained panelists using 9-point hedonic scale. The results indicated that millet kishk had higher protein (19.24–21.62%) and ash (1.52–2.14%) compared to the control (18.16% and 1.45%), respectively. Replacing burghul with millet reduced the fat content from 14.57% (control) to 10.70% (at replacement 100%). Moreover, millet increases essential amino acid content, dietary fiber, iron, zinc, phosphorus content, and probiotic survival rate as well as antioxidant activity in millet kishk. Sensory evaluation results indicated that all functional kishk were accepted. The substitution of 50% millet recorded the highest score, while the 100% replacement was the lowest. The color parameters (L and b values) decreased with the replacement of millet. Conclusion, the panelists approved the potential use of millet as a sustainable, innovative ingredient to enrich the nutritional and functional properties of kishk. Utilizing millet as whole grains in kishk production represents an innovative strategy. This approach will promote self-sufficiency and decrease grain importation for food applications.