ABSTRACT
Millet makes up a group of small-seeded cereals and grasses cultivated from ancient time and used for domestic purposes, such as feed and food. Finger millet (Eleusine coracana L.) is an ancient crop commonly grown in India and Africa. This millet is a nutritionally abundant source of essential nutrients as well as an economically viable crop compared to cereals like rice, wheat, and other millets. This chapter reviews finger millet, covering its structural features, nutritional composition, and its bioactive compounds and their therapeutic advantages. Finger millet is beneficial in the management of various diseases, including cholesterol-lowering properties, wound healing properties, diabetes, and anemia owing to the presence of its bioactive compounds. Different methods of processing millet lead to the reduction in the antinutritional factors, enhancing its maximum utilization as a food. Finger millet is gaining popularity because of the absence of gluten and presence of high antioxidant activity and adequate amount of dietary fiber, making this millet a suitable candidate for nutraceuticals and functional foods.
