Muthulisi Siwela

Wheat-finger Millet: Assessment of the Feasibility of Using a Wheat-finger Millet Composite Flour for Bread Making Muthulisi Siwela

Wheat is the most important cereal crop in bread making because of its visco-elastic properties. However, it is a temperate cereal and not able to grow well in tropical regions such as sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. As a result, in tropical sub- Saharan Africa much of the wheat has to be imported at a premium price. Sorghum and millets are tolerant to adverse agro-climatic conditions prevalent in tropical sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia. Many poor people living in tropical sub-Saharan Africa and parts of Asia depend on sorghum and millets as their main staples. Use of the locally available cereals in bread making would be economically beneficial in tropical sub-Saharan Africa. This book reports on a study conducted to investigate the feasibility of partially substituting wheat with finger millet in bread making. The findings of the study indicated that bread of acceptable quality could be made by substituting wheat with up to about 30% (w/w) finger millet.