Calcium from Finger Millet—A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on Calcium Retention, Bone Resorption, and In Vitro Bioavailability

Seetha Anitha, David Ian Givens, Rosemary Botha (), Joanna Kane-Potaka, Nur Liana Binti Sulaiman, Takuji Tsusaka, Kowsalya Subramaniam, Ananthan Rajendran, Devraj J. Parasannanavar and Raj Kumar Bhandari
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Seetha Anitha: Smart Food Initiative, International Crops Research Center for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru 502324, India
David Ian Givens: Institute of Food, Nutrition and Health, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6EU, UK
Joanna Kane-Potaka: Smart Food Initiative, International Crops Research Center for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), Patancheru 502324, India
Nur Liana Binti Sulaiman: Institute of Food, Nutrition and Health, University of Reading, Reading RG6 6EU, UK
Kowsalya Subramaniam: Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women, Coimbatore 641043, India
Ananthan Rajendran: National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad 500007, India
Devraj J. Parasannanavar: National Institute of Nutrition (NIN), Hyderabad 500007, India
Raj Kumar Bhandari: National Technical Board of Nutrition, Government of India (GoI), New Delhi 110001, India

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 16, 1-14

Abstract: Calcium deficiency during child growth leads to osteoporosis in later stages of life. Finger millet is one of the calcium dense foods, with three times the level of calcium than milk, and the only cereal that contains high calcium content which is consistent across different varieties (364 ± 58 mg/100 g). Thus, finger millet has potential for addressing calcium deficiency naturally. This study aimed to determine the retention and impact of finger millet calcium on bone turnover through a systematic review and meta-analysis. Three human studies were eligible for systematic review. Of these, only two were eligible for meta-analysis to assess the retention of calcium in children of 9 to 12 years. One study on bone turnover markers was not used in the meta-analysis as at least two studies are required to conduct meta-analysis. Due to the lack of complete data only four studies were eligible for meta-analysis to assess the in vitro bioavailability of calcium from unprocessed and a range of different types of processed finger millet. The result shows that there was significant retention ( p < 0.05) of 23.4 ± 2.9% calcium from finger-millet-based diet which could help bone accretion during child growth if finger-millet-based diet is consumed. The bone turnover marker study shows that the resorption of calcium reduced by 28% and 47% among peri and post-menopausal women respectively after feeding the nutria mixed grain ball. However, there is no significant change in bone formation marker. Depending on the type of processing, calcium bioavailability either increased or decreased. One in vitro study showed that calcium bioavailability from finger millet was 28.6% when boiled, whereas three studies on processing show that certain processing can double the calcium bioavailability to 61.4%. Irrespective of the type of processing, finger millets contribute to high calcium retention and extremely high bioavailable calcium and could be useful for healthy growth and in dealing with complications related to calcium deficiency.

Keywords: finger millet based diet; calcium deficiency; bioavailable calcium (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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