BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION : Sorghum, bajra, maize, ragi (finger millet), small millets and barley constitute the major coarse cereals grown in India. They are rich in minerals predominantly grown in rainfed areas in semi-arid and arid zones. The production of coarse cereals for 2001-02 was 33.94 million tons. The production of ragi or finger millet was 26.60 lakh tonnes and that of sorghum (jowar) was 7.06 million tons. (Vikas Singhal, Indian Agriculture 2003, Economic Data Research Centre, New Delhi, pg: 153).

Calcium and phosphorous content is specifically high in most of the coarse cereals as against rice and wheat. The calcium and phosphorous content of rice and wheat are 10 mg, 160 mg and 41 mg, 306 mg (per 100 g) respectively. The calcium and phosphorous content (mg/100g) of sorghum and finger millet are 25, 222 and 344, 283 respectively. (C. Gopalan et al 1982. Nutritive value of Indian Foods. National Institute of nutritional, Hyderabad, India). Ragi grains are also rich in important vitamins viz. thiamine, riboflavin and niacin. It is of interest to note that lower incidence of cardiovascular diseases, duodenal ulcer and hyperglycemia are reported among regular ragi consumers. (Mangal Rai. The Hindu Survey of Indian Agriculture, 2002, Pg 61) : flour is a basic ingredient in bakery products. The protein quality of wheat is inferior to that of most cereals. This is primarily because of the low lysine, methionine and threonine content of wheat proteins. Also, the major portion of minerals and vitamins gets partially or totally removed during milling. The inferior nutritional quality of wheat flour gets accentuated further in refining of flour. Use of non wheat cereals like ragi, sorghum and maize has nutritional advantages in bakery products. Most bakery products are low in quantity and quality of proteins, as well as poor in minerals and B-group vitamins. (Chavan JK and Kadam SS 1993.

Nutritional enrichment of bakery products by supplementation with non wheat flours. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition 33 (3), 189-226). The ragi

protein has a well balanced amino acid profile and is a good source of methionine, cystine and lysine. Products such as bread, biscuits, cookies etc. , can serve as good vehicles for carrying the added proteins to target populations for use in combating . hr ^ otç 7. * t ; m many parts of + wor 7>^ f~L <+ Ii u. - ii L^. . -vIl'L'' 2"W' : j, 3I5 vf : . w'v'_. _ tC= °'^, __ the bakery products can be achieved by using non wheat protein sources like sorghum, ragis, oat etc. as they are cheap supplements.

Protein ingredients have a role in the target market and a wide variety of functional and nutritional characteristics of manufactured food products. The products enriched most frequently are breads, biscuits, cookies and crackers. The meal and protein products of legumes, oil seeds and non wheat cereals are promising materials for nutritional enrichment of bakery products. Although the flours and protein products of legumes, oil seeds and non wheat cereals do not meet all these requirements for fortification, suitable modifications in processing, and use of surfactants and other ingredients in the formulation, have significantly helped to produce products of acceptable quality from wheat flour containing a suitable proportion of such non wheat vegetable products. The non wheat cereal flours and other grain processing by products are used to replace part of wheat flour in preparation of variety breads or cookies either when the wheat is in short supply, when it is desired to promote the utilisation of non wheat cereals and their by products among the larger segment of populations or when it is desired to improve the protein content in the produce.

Reference may be made here to patent No. AT 395365B by Johann (1992) wherein the patent discloses a process for producing bread having a content of legumes. ragi and barley, a paste being produced by mixing equal psns of broad beans, ragis and rolled barley, which are unground and boiled after soaking for 12 hours in water, the paste is added to the bread mixture which consists of half wheat flour and half brown wheat flour. The drawback is that the raw material used is not 100 % ragi flour (finger millet flour). Barley, broad beans and lentils do not form the ingredients of the present invention.

Reference may be made here to patent No. CN 1254517 by Zhaozheng (2000) wherein a principal food made up of ragi and sorghum grains and its producrion technology is disclosed. The principal food including dried noodles, ordinary noodles, instant noodles. steamed bread. brcad, pan cake etc. is made up of refined

ragi Sour, or refined sorgh-um grain Hour or their mixture (40 to 60 wt. %), alpha ragi flour or alpha sorghum grain flour or their mixture (5-45 wt. %) and glutelin powder (3-15 wt. %) through refining the ragi flour, sorghum grain flour, bean or tb--'--and--Ip-laa floi--or Li-leir miyinc- r °' «. r'-°u . :. llia vr :.. r tletr L1l. Liiv. L1'li_YUJ. y -. r. water, ageing and making finished food. The drawback here is that the patent relates to the making of mixture of flours of grains for product preparation which principally consists of refined grains and not the use of 100% ragi flour for the preparation of bread only.

Patent CN 1304661 (2001) deals with a composite multi element nutritive flour which is made up of wheat as main raw material, corn, soya bean and ragi through screening, grinding, proportional mixing and pulverizing. It can be made into dried noodles and dough slices. The drawback here is that wheat is the main raw material whereas in the present invention ragi flour forms the main raw material for the preparation of bread and not dried noodles and dough slices.

Reference may be made here to CN 1194786 (1998) which deals with the preparation of ragi bread series featuring use of ragi as part of its raw materials for more rich nutrients and unique taste. The drawback here is that ragi forms a part of the raw material and not the main raw material that is 100, % ragi flour used for the preparation of bread in the present invention.

Reference may be made here to application No. CN 199902 51477U 19991122 wherein process for the preparation of steamed stuffed bread of corn, sorghum etc. is disclosed. The drawback here is that it is a steamed bread consisting of corn. sorghum etc. as a stuffing and not baked bread which is made of 100 % ragi flour with out any Stuffing.

Reference may be made here to Elkhalifa and El-Tinay 2002. Effect of cysteine on bakery products from wheat-sorghum blends. Food chemistry 77, 133-137 wherein effect of cysteine on bakery products from wheat-sorghum blends is discussed.

Using a chemical dough development method for bread preparation a high quality bread could be produced by adding 10 % sorghum along with 60 pprn cysteine to wheat flour. A high quality biscuit can be prepared bv addition of 90 °0 sori. lur. iiour and cysteine 60 ppm 10 gm tlour to wheat flour. The drawback is that the

product bread is not entirely made of ragi flour as in the present invention. Also, cysteine does not form the ingredient in the present patent.

Reference may be made here to EPO 396162, Bl, B2 wherein bread improvers are y Tnr ir. z. ^.--r ; -1-., i- .-t -., .-t_ -'a rr- ... _. alyt 'Lp. TL'e P,. r xyianase includes an oxidase or peroxidases. The mixture of enzymes may be incorporated in flour as an additive to dough for bread or other baked dough products eg : puff pastry. The drawback here is that the bread improvers consisting of enzymes is added to'baked goods made from refined wheat flour and not yeast leavened products made using ragi flour (finger ragi flour) as the main raw material.

The improver used in the present invention is not ^ me or enzyme mixture.

Reference may be made here GB 2360438A wherein the invetion provides a liquid bread improver composition in a form of a suspension of an improving agent in an oily vehicle and a fumed silica stabilizing agent. The improving agent can be selected from oxidising agents, reducing agents and enzymes. The drawback here is that the improver mix in the present invention is not in. the liquid form and the oxidising, reducing agents or the enzymes do not form the ingredients of the improver mix.

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION: The main object of the present invention relates to a fmger millet bread formulation and a process for preparing the same.

Another object of the present invention relates to the ration of bread using ragi flour or coarse cereal flour of 95 % extractim < Yet another object of the present invention relates to the preparation of yeast based bakery products using the formulation of the present invention.

Yet another object of the present invention relates to use of combination of improvers like dry gluten powder, ascorbic acid, fungal a-amylase, distilled glycerol monostearate and sodium stearoyl - 2 - lactylate.

Still another object of the present invention is that the particle size of millet flour would be such that the percentage troughs of 10 XX (129 µ) sieve will be 74 - 78 %.

Yet another object of the present inventionis that 95 % extraction rate of millet flour is obtained by sifting millet flour through 45 mesh (480 L) to remove about 5 % bran. _A r--1- _ _.-.. r i. W __ _ f'1. tJ ? C.. characteristics to millet dough by using the formulation ofthe invention.

Still another object of the present invention is to modify mixing method for the preparation of millet bread dough.

Another object of the present invention is to produce ragi bread having increased protein and calcium content when compared to white pan bread.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Tlle present i : nven. ti. nn rrvlats tr millet bread formT ? ^ rocess for preparing the same.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTE0 Accordingly the present invention relates to a millet bread formulation comprising:

Tnr.-crirantc LUiQh loramcl . Finger millet flour 100 Compressed Yeast 4-6 Salt i 1-1-5 Salt ' jFst i-5 i Sugar !--,-i 10-21 i I _ _ Ascorbic acid 0. 005-0. 015 Fungal a-amylase 0. 001-0. 005 Distilled Glycerol mono stearate 0. 1-0. 25 ) oizr s : F-, aroyl-2-laciyi-at-I I Calcium propionate 0. 2-0. 5 , i Glacial acetic acid} 0. 05-0. 1 I i _

Finger millet is also called 'ragi'. The botanical name of the plant is Eleurine corcana. Hereafter, the term'finger millet'is also referred as 'ragi' and is intended to mean and denote'finger millet'from the said plant.

In an embodiment of the present invention the dry gluten powder selected may be having protein content 74-78 % and water holding capacity 1. 3-1. 4 ml/g.

In another embodiment of the present invention the enzyme selected may be fungal a-amylase having activity of 50,000 SKB (Standsted Kneen Blish) units/g.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, the ragi bread may be having the following characteristics Parameters Range Weight (g) 152-158 Volume (ml) 520-560 Specific volume (ml/g) 3. 42--'. 54 Crumb Firmness* (force, g) 1000 - 1100 Crust Colour (10) 8-9 Shape (15) 12-14 Symmetry (15) 12-14 Crumb Colour (10) 6-8 Grain (20) 16-ils Mouthfeel (20) 16-18 Taste (10) 8-9 C Overall quality score (100) The fat used may be any hydrogenated fat made from vegetable oils.

The invention also provides a process for preparing a ragi bread comprising the steps of : a) preparing finely ground ragi flour wherein 5% bran is separated, b) hydrating the ragi flour and dry gluten powder for 10 mm with 50 % water, c) dissolving yeast, salt, sugar. ascorbic acid. fungal alpha amylase, distilled glycerol mono-stearate, sodium stearoy 1-2lactylate. calcium propionate, glacial acetic acid separately in water,

d) mixing of hydrated ragi flour and the mixture of step (c) for 5 min to obtain a dough and allowing the dough to ferment for a period of 30 min, e) remixing the ragi dough of step (d) for 2 min and relaxing the ragi dough for 15 to 30 min, moulding the ragi dough of step (e) using mechanical device, g) proofing the dough for 30 to 45 min, h) baking the proofed dough in an oven at a temperature ranging from 220 to 230°C for a period of 25 to 30 min, and i) cooling for 2-3 hrs to obtain ragi bread.

In the above process,'knock back'involves remixing the dough after elapse of about three quarters of the fermentation time. In the step of'Proofing', the moulded dough pieces are panned and given a fermentation period until sufficient rise is obtained. In the step of scaling, the dough is weighed into pieces of appropriate quantity, e. g. 450 g of dough is weighed and after baking 400 g bread is obtained.

In still yet an another embodiment of the present invention the weights of the ingredients used for the preparation of ragi bread are Ingredients Weight (kg) Ragi flour 100 Compressed Yeast 4-6 Salt Sugar 3-25 Fat I 1-3 i Dry gluten powder 10-20 Ascorbic acid 0. 005-0. 015 Fungal a-amylase 0. 0 1-0. 005 Distilled Glycerol mono stearate 0.1-0. 25 Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate 0.1-0. 25 Calcium propionate 0.2-0.5 Glacial acetic acid 0. 05 - 0.15 Water 85-95 To describe in detail, the process for preparing the ragi bread formulation. comprises :

Step 1. Preparation of ragi flour Commercially available ragi is finely ground in chakki (disc mill) and the flour is sifted through 32 mesh (670 L) to remove bran. The bran is reground into fine - nIm-., 4 v iv. : ;'.. ! 7 _a CTi IL1 [ij' l ;. _. _ _-SIL't that the percentage troughs of 10 XX (129 p.) sieve will be 74-78 %.

Step 2. Preparation of 95% extraction rate ragi flour Ragi flour of 95 °b extraction rate is obtained by removing 5 % bran using 45 mesh (480). L). '' Step 3. Method of preparation a. hydrating of ragi flour and dry gluten powder for 8-10 min using 50 % of the total water. b. dissolving yeast, salt and sugar separately in remaining water, c. mixing of hydrated ragi flour and dry gluten powder with dissolved yeast, salt, sugar suspensions and other ingredients for 4 - 6 min at speed I and 4- 6 min at speed, d. fermenting the ragi dough for a period of 30 to 60 min, e. remixing the ragi dough for 2 min, dividing and rounding, f. relaxing the ragi dough for 15 to 30 min. g. moulding the ragi dough using mechanical device, h. proofing the dough for 30 to 45 min. i. baking the proofed dough in an oven ar a Temperature ranging from 220 to 230°C for a period of 25 to 30 min, j. cooling for 2-3 hrs to obtain ragi bread.

Preparation of ragi bread The following formulation was used Materials Range Quantity Dry matter (kg) Ragi flour 100 100 88.0 Compressed Yeast 4-6 5. 0 0. 5 r i, i, ; SaI (1-L. J 1. J L. J Sugar 3-25 5. 0 5. 0. 'Fat1-3YoYo Fat 1-3 I 2. 0 2. 0 b. n powder t 0 18. 4 Ascorbic acid 0. 005-0. 01 0. 01 Fungal a-amylase 0. 015 0. 002 0. 002 Distilled glycerol 0. 001-0. 25 0. 25 monostearate -..,.. 0. 1-0. 25 Sodium stearoyl-2- lactylate 0. 1-0. 25 Calcium propionate 0-2-0. 5 0. 3 0. 3 Glacial acetic acid i, nz- ; z Water 85-95 90----- Total dry matter 116. 312 Add moisture 53. 85 (33% moisture in ragi-170. 162 bread) Production deficit (0. 5°/O)) Production deficit (0. 5%) t-1. 70 168. 462

; =.-ld of standard loas Ol ra (Ji flour 491 Nos Ihe r. ^ operations and cc waratron oiS rat, i bread are given below in the following flow chart. Weighing the Ingredients Hydration of ragi flour an dry gluten powder (10 min) Mixing of ingredients (to a well developed stage) Fermentation (30 mA) at 30 C. 75"in RH) t Knock bacf (2-3 mm t I 1

Scaling 450g dough for 400g weight loaf T Moulding t Proofing 30-40 min at 30 ° C, 85'S, RH i Baking 220° C for 25 min Cooling for 2-3 h 1 Slicing & Packing The following examples are given by way of illustrations and should not be construed to limit the scope of the present invention Example 1 Composition of formulation 1 <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> (g)<BR> <BR> <BR> Ragi flour 100 Compressed yeast 5 Salt 1. 5 Sugar.- Fat - Dry gluten powder 2 Distilled glycerol mono stearate 20 Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate 0.25 Calcium propionate 0.25 Glacial acetic acid 0.3 Water 0. 1 95 Example- Composition offornutlation 2 (g) Ragi flour 100 Compressed yeast 5 Salt 1.5 Sugar 5 Fat - Dry gluten powder 2 Ascorbic acid 20 Distilled glycerol mono stearate 0.01 Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate 0. 25 Calcium propionate 0.25 Glacial acetic acid 0.3 Water 0.1 95 Example 3 Composition of formulation 3

(g) Ragi Sour 100 Compressed yeast 5 Salt 1.5 Sogar Fat Dry gluten powder 2 Ascorbic acid 20 Fungal a-amylase 0. 01 Distilled glycerol mono stearate 0.002 Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylate 0.25 0.25 Example 4 |Prep ofragi Grcad i fngredients Control Formulation I Formulation Z Forrnulation 3 í Ragf-our'j H O | 100 t l J (! f if I n i Compressed Yeast ! [1. 0 15. 0 15. 0 i. o Salt 5 1 5 | sll ! tar ! 15 (5 0 £ ,. Fat =. U'. l) . O _-i ! Dry dtuen powder-t 20 20 20 Ascorbic acid---0. 01 0. 01 Fungaja-amytase---0. 002 DistilSed glycero I mo no. ite ; zatc J t) H 0. 2-, (). 25 'vil Sodium stearoyl-2-lactylare i-o. ? p 0. 25 Catciumpropionate'0. 3 0. 3 p. 3 t7. 3 Glacial acetic acid 0_I 0. 1 0. 1 0. 1 1 1 Waterfi5 5 90

Method of preparation 1. Mixing of control ragi bread dough i. Dissolving yeast, salt and sugar separately in part of total water. ii. Mixing of ragi flour with dissolved yeast, salt, sugar suspensions and other ingredients for 3 min ar speed l ana mm at speed II.

2. Mixing of experimental ragi dough (Formulations 1, 2 and 3) 1. Hydration of ragi flour and dry gluten powder for 10 min using 50 % of the total water.

2. Dissolving yeast, salt and sugar separately in remaining water.

3. Mixing ofhydrated ragi Hour and dry gluten powder with dissolved yeast, salt, sugar suspensions and other ingredients of formulation 1, 2 and 3 separately for 5 min at speed I and 5 min at speed II.

4. Fermenting control and experimental ragi doughs for a period of 30 min.

5. Remixing the ragi dough for 2 mm, dividing and rounding.

6. Relaxing the ragi dough for 15 min.

7 Moulding the ragi dough S. Proofing the dough for 30 min.

9. Baking at 2200 C for min.

10. Cooling for 2-3 hrs. packing.

11. Evaluating the ragi bread for its physical and sensory characteristics.

Experiments were conducted by preparing ragi breads in order to find out the effect of three formulations on the quality of ragi bread. Bread weight was recorded, bread eterrnir c1^^em£nt. A panel of SLX l_Ls hed judges .. let21'_ =-. _ e _. _..-- t. lsil. t. iu. u..,, ii. t1 ..''ani L Ji. i i. i. i i. isa. u uQFJ carried out the sensory evaluation of bread samples by assigning scores for crust color, shape, symmetry, crumb color, grain, mouthfeel and taste. The overall quality score (100) was taken as the combined score of all the above attributes. Crumb firmness was measured according to AACC (2000) procedure using texture analyser (Model Stable Microsystems, UK) under the following conditions: sample thickness-25 mm, load c 1 Ku, L-mGer diameter-36 mm and plunger speed - 100 mm per minute. Crumb firm@ess which is a force at 25 % compression was measured.

Control ragi bread and ragi breads using three formulations were prepared and subjected to objective and sensory evaluation. The weight and volume of control ragi bread was 137 g and 170 ml, ragi breads prepared using formulation 1 (155 g and i60 ml) formulation 2 (154 g and 490 ml) and formulation 3 (154 g and 525 ml) respectively. The specific loaf volume of control ragi bread was 1.24 ml/g and it <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> increased 2.97 ml/g for ragi bread prepared using formulation 1, formulation 2 (3. 18 ml/g) and formulation 3 (3.41 ml g).

Table 2. EFFECT OF IMPROVER MIX ON THE BREAD MAKING QUALITY OF RAGI FLOUR Examples Parameters | Control 1 2 3 Weight (g) 155 54 154 Volume (ml) T70460490 525 Specific volume (=11-2-2973. 18 3. 41 2. 97 Crumb Firmness* (force, g) 19. 000 1, 200 1120 1050 Cnist Colour (10) 7 8 9 Shape (15) 1 10 12 13 Symmetry (15) 11 13 8 14 Crumb Colour (10) 4 7 7 7 Grain (20) 1 14 16 17 Mouthfeel (20) 4 15 16 17 Taste (10) 4 8 8 9 Overall quality score (100) 16 72 80 86

* Force at 25 % compression measured using texturometer The control ragi bread has a crumb firmness value of 19000 g indicating a very hard texture. The crumb firmness values of ragi breads prepared using formulations 1,2 and 3 ranged from 1050-1200 g. The ragi bread prepared using formulation 3 had the lowest crumb firmness value of 1050 g indicating soft texture of the bread. The above data indicated that the formulation 3 significantly improved volume, specific volume and texture of ragi bread. Sensory evaluation of ragi bread showed that the control ragi bread had whitish crust colour, flat shape, dark brown crumb colour, completely closed grain and hard texture. Preparation of ragi breads using formulations 1,2 and 3 significantly improved the crust colour, shape, crumb grain and texture of ragi bread. This is-by the increase in sensory scores for above parameters. The overall quality score of control rani bread was 16 out of 100 and it ranged from 72-86 for ragi breads prepared using fbnnnlaiions 1, 2 and Highest improvement in the overall quality score of 86 was recorded by formulation 3 followed in decreasing order by formulation 2 (80) and formulation 1 (72).

However all the breads possessed typical wholesome ragi taste. Based on the above data it could be concluded that the formulation 3 was found most suited for producing excellent quality ragi bread.