Abstract
Cereals belong to the family Poaceae that is considered one of the most widely distributed families of Angiosperms and is of great value as a staple food for human beings and for animals as a fodder and forage. For human beings, major food crops, i.e., wheat, rice, and millet, have prime importance on commercial level due to their nutritional value. Grasses growing in wild provide suitable habitats, food, and shelter to wild life. In the world, population is increasing at alarming rate and this rapid population growth in developing countries increases burden on its limited resources. As the human population is increasing, the demand for food is also increasing. On large area of cultivated land, most of the major crops are facing continuous decline in the poor countries, and therefore these countries are facing food shortage. Different food crops once cultivated in Africa and Asia were primarily cereals but due to changes in cultivation preferences, they disappeared from these zones. Different species of grasses, i.e., wild rice, and different species of millets growing in wild can be cultivated as an alternate food for humans and as a source of fodder for cattle. These underutilized crops have great potential of being used as alternate food crops because of their nutritional value, rapid growth, and capability for cultivation in the arid areas. Most of the grasses mentioned here in this chapter are being used mainly as food and for forage in different regions of the world that are facing food scarcity, especially in Africa.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ahmad F, Khan MA, Ahmad M, Zafar M, Nazir A, Marwat SK (2009) Taxonomic studies of grasses and their indigenous uses in the Salt Range of Pakistan. Afr J Biotechnol 8(2):231–249
Antony U, Sripriya G, Chandra TS (1996) Effect of fermentation on primarynutrients in finger millet (Eleucinecoracana). J Agric Food Chem 44:2616–2618
Babatunde O, Manyasa E (2002) Millets. In: Belton P, Taylor J (eds) Pseudo-cereals and less common cereals: grain properties and utilization potential. Springer, Berlin, p 177
Bavec M (2000) Organic foods—market possibility in Slovenia. Presented at 22nd food technology conference, p 153
Bond B, Fernandez DR, VanderJagt DJ, Williams M, Huang YS, Chuang LT, Millson M, Andrews R, Glew RH (2005) Fatty acid, amino acid and trace mineral analysis of three complementary foods from Jos, Nigeria. J Food Compos Anal 18(7):675–690
Bravo L (1998) Polyphenols: chemistry, dietary sources, metabolism and nutritional significance. Nutr Rev 56:317–333
Choi YY, Osada K, Ito Y, Nagasawa T, Choi MR, Nishizawa N (2005) Effects of dietary protein of Korean foxtail millet on plasma adiponectin, HDL-cholesterol, and insulin levels in genetically type 2 diabetic mice. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 69(1):31–37
Clayton WD, Renvoize SA (1986) Genera Gramineum, Grasses of the World. Kew Bulletin. Additional Series 13, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kewp: 389
Duke JA (1979) Ecosystematic data on economic plants. Quart J Crude Drug Res 17:91–109
FAO (1995) Sorghum and millets in human nutrition. FAO, Rome
Francis CA (1986) Multiple cropping systems. MacMillan, New York
Gemma T, Miura H, Hayeshi K (1993) Effects of water depth and temperature on the seedling growth of wild rice Zizaniapalustris. Japan J Crop Sci 62(3):414–418
Good R (1953) The geography of the flowering plants, 2nd edn. Longmans, Green & Co., Ltd, London
Gould FW (1968) Grass systematics. McGraw Hill Book Company, New York, pp 40–41
Haq N, Ogbe FD (1995) Fonio (Digitaria exilis and D. iburua). In: Williams JT (ed) Cereals and pseudocereals. Chapman and Hall, New York, pp 225–245
Hoover R, Sailaja Y, Sosulski FW (1996) Characterization of starches from wild and long grain brown rice. Food Res Int 29(2):99–107
Hulse JH, Laing EM, Pearson OE (1980) Sorghum and millets: their composition and nutritive value. Academic, New York
Indira R, Naik MS (1971) Nutrient composition and protein quality of some minor millets. Indian J Agric Sci 41:795–797
Jones R (1999) The biogeography of the grasses and low grasslands of South Eastern Australia. Indigenous Flora and Fauna Association, pp 11–16
Kumar H, Chauhan BM (1993) Effects of phytic acid on protein digestibility (in vitro) and HCl extractability of minerals in pearl millet sprouts. Cereal Chem 70:504
Makela P, Archibold OW, Peltonen-Sainio P (1998) Wild rice—a potentialnew crop for Finland. Agric Food Sci Finl 7(5–6):583
Malleshi NG (1989) Processing of small millets for food and industrial uses. In: Small millets in global agriculture, pp 325–339
Malleshi NG, Hadimani NA (1993) Nutritional and technological characteristics of small millets and preparation of value-added products from them. In: Riley KW et al (eds) Advances in small millets. Oxford &IBH Publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi
Mitra S, Mukherjee SK (2005) Ethnobotanical usages of grasses by the tribals of West Dinajpur District, West Bengal. IndJ Trad Know 4(4):396–402
Nelson KOO, Eyal S (2004) Rheological properties of fermented finger millet (Eleucinecoracana) thin porridge. Carbohydr Polym 57(2):135–143
Nishizawa N, Sato D, Ito Y, Nagasawa T, Hatakeyama Y, Choi MR, Choi YY, Wei YM (2002) Effects of dietary protein of proso millet on liver injury induced by D-galactosamine in rats. Biosci Biotechnol Biochem 66(1):92–69
Nriagu JO, Lin TS (1995) Trace metals in wild rice sold in the United States. Sci Total Environ 172(2-3):223–228
Rachie KO (1975) Themillets: importance, utilization and outlook. ICRISAT, Hyderabad
Ramarathnam N, Osawa T, Ochi H, Kawakishi S (1995) The contribution of plant food antioxidants to human health. Trends Food Sci Technol 6(3):75–82
Rao MV (1986) The millets: their importance, present status and outlook. In: Small millets in global agriculture. Proceedings of the first international small millets workshop, Bangalore, India
Skerman PJ, Riveros F (1990) Tropical grasses. Food and Agriculture of the United Nations, pp 77–79
Srivastava S, Thathola A, Batra A (2001) Development and nutritional evaluation of proso millet-based convenience mix for infants and children. J Food Sci Technol 38(5):480–483
Ushakumari SR, Latha S, Malleshi NG (2004) The functional properties of popped, flaked, extruded and roller-dried foxtail millet (Setaria italica). Int J Food Sci Technol 39:907–915
Watt JM, Breyer-Brandwijk MG (1962) The medicinal and poisonous plants of southern and eastern Africa being an account of their medicinal and other uses, chemical composition, pharmacological effects and toxicology in man and animal. University Microfilms International [E. & S. Livingstone], Ann Arbor, MI [Edinburgh and London]
Williams JT (1995) In: Williams JT (ed) Cereals and pseudocereals. Chapman and Hall, London
Zeller FJ (2000) Utilization, genetics and breeding of small-seeded millets: 3. Proso (Panicum miliaceum L.) J Appl Bot 74(5–6):182
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Ahmad, F., Hameed, M., Ahmad, M.S.A. (2018). Exploring Potential of Minor/Underutilized Grasses for Remote Areas Facing Food Scarcity. In: Ozturk, M., Hakeem, K., Ashraf, M., Ahmad, M. (eds) Global Perspectives on Underutilized Crops. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77776-4_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-77776-4_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-77775-7
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-77776-4
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)