Millet nutritional value per 100g: calories, protein and GI

All five millets share the same shape: carbohydrate makes up the bulk of the grain, protein and fibre come next, and fat is the smallest slice. The table below shows three of them — finger millet (ragi), sorghum (jowar) and pearl millet (bajra) — as IFCT 2017, the Indian Food Composition Tables, reports them, per 100 g of dry, raw grain. If you are looking up millet flour calories per 100g, the answer sits in the same table: whole-grain atta keeps the bran, so flour milled whole carries the same values as the grain itself.

Kodo millet and little millet, left out of the table to keep it readable, sit close by. Kodo millet carries 332 kcal, 8.9 g of protein, 2.6 g of fat, 66.2 g of carbohydrates and 6.4 g of fibre per 100 g; little millet carries 347 kcal, 10.1 g of protein, 3.9 g of fat, 65.6 g of carbohydrates and 7.7 g of fibre. So millet flour nutritional value per 100g spans a narrow band: energy runs from 321 kcal in ragi to 348 kcal in bajra, protein from 7.2 g to 11 g, and fibre from 6.4 g to 11.5 g. The spread matters more than any single number, and the sections after this one unpack it.

Per 100 g raw, edible portion. Composition: IFCT 2017 (ICMR-NIN). GI: University of Sydney GI database. — means not reported. These are average values for the food; the label on a pack gives the values for that product.

Raw values only get you so far; the useful numbers are the ones on the plate. A katori of cooked millet is made from 40 g of raw grain, a roti or phulka uses 30 g of flour, and the thicker hand-patted bhakri uses 40 g of flour. With those measures the numbers scale in a straight line, and they stay modest — even the heaviest servings below, a bajra bhakri and a little-millet katori, land at about 139 kcal.

Cooked grain weighs far more than the dry grain that went in because of the water it absorbs, so a 100 g spoonful of cooked millet carries only a fraction of these values. These are grain-only figures too: ghee on a roti, the dal beside it or vegetables in a khichdi all add on top. Two jowar rotis for dinner stay near 200 kcal of grain. The recipes for bajra roti, jowar bhakri and ragi porridge show the real plates, and our millet recipes round-up has more breakfast and dinner ideas.

Per 100 g, protein runs from 7.2 g in ragi to 11 g in bajra, and fibre from 6.4 g in kodo millet to 11.5 g in bajra. Bajra tops both columns. On protein, jowar (10 g) and little millet (10.1 g) sit just behind it; on fibre, ragi (11.2 g) and jowar (10.2 g) do. Down at serving size the gaps shrink: one 30 g bajra roti carries 3.3 g of protein and 3.4 g of fibre, and a ragi roti carries 2.1 g and 3.4 g.

Two caveats keep the picture honest. Millet protein is short on the amino acid lysine; ICAR-IIMR describes millet protein as complementing leguminous and animal proteins because of it, and the Dietary Guidelines for Indians name pulses as the lysine-rich half of that pair. Serving millet with dal or sambar improves the protein quality of the meal. Second, the fibre sits in the bran, so it survives in whole-grain atta and whole cooked grain — a sieved flour leaves much of it behind.

Every GI figure below comes from the University of Sydney glycemic index database, with the form and country of each test stated. Bajra carries the lowest of the five, 57 — the mean of three India-tested roti and chapatti tests made with flour and water only. Jowar carries 66 from its single entry, de-husked grain boiled and tested in Botswana; the one India-tested jowar roti in the database came in higher, so 66 is the plain-grain figure. Ragi carries 68 from one India-tested test of dehusked, soaked and steamed grain, and little millet carries 89 from one India-tested test of unpolished grain cooked plain. For kodo millet the database gives no plain-grain figure, only mixed-meal tests with green gram, so it is left out here.

The University of Sydney calls a GI of 55 or less low and 70 or more high. Bajra rotis at 57 sit just above the low band, while little millet at 89 sits in the high band — the five grains are not interchangeable on this measure. Across the wider evidence, a 2021 meta-analysis by Anitha and colleagues put the mean GI of millets, worked out across 39 studies that measured it, at 52.7 — about 36 per cent lower than milled rice and refined wheat meals; the same review found long-term millet intake in people with diabetes brought fasting blood glucose down about 12 per cent and post-meal glucose about 15 per cent. The dedicated page on is millet atta good for diabetes walks through those studies in detail.

Ragi is the outlier on minerals: 364 mg of calcium per 100 g, against 27.6 mg in jowar, 27.4 mg in bajra, 15.3 mg in kodo and 16.1 mg in little millet. ICAR-IIMR counts finger millet as the richest calcium source among the millets, and a 30 g ragi roti still carries about 109 mg of it.

On iron, bajra leads with 6.4 mg and ragi follows with 4.6 mg per 100 g; jowar (4 mg), kodo (2.3 mg) and little millet (1.3 mg) trail. Phytic acid in cereals holds some minerals back. The Dietary Guidelines for Indians note that it decreases to a great extent after boiling or pressure cooking, and Gupta et al. (J Food Sci Technol, 2015) list soaking, germination and fermentation among the steps that reduce it. Vitamin C rich foods in the same meal — guava, pineapple or citrus fruits, or a chutney of coriander and green chillies — improve iron absorption from plant foods, while the guidelines keep tea at least an hour away from the meal, before or after it. Magnesium runs from 146 mg in ragi to 91.4 mg in little millet per 100 g, potassium from 443 mg in ragi to 94 mg in kodo, zinc from 2.8 mg in bajra to 1.7 mg in kodo, and folate between 34.7 and 39.5 mcg. None of the five shows a vitamin C value of its own in the IFCT tables, so that nutrient has to come from the plate around the millet.

What these minerals and the fibre do day to day is the subject of the millet atta benefits page, and the millets hub shows how to cook each grain so the nutrients come along.

Does millet flour have protein?

Yes. Per 100 g, bajra flour carries about 11 g of protein, jowar 10 g, little millet 10.1 g, kodo 8.9 g and ragi 7.2 g; a single 30 g roti brings 2.1 to 3.3 g. Millet protein is short on lysine, so dal or sambar on the same plate improves its protein quality, as ICAR-IIMR and the Dietary Guidelines for Indians both note.

Is millet flour gluten free?

Yes. Millets sit on ICAR-IIMR's gluten free and non-glutinous list, which is why millet atta suits people with gluten allergy or coeliac disease. The NHS names wheat, barley and rye as the grains that contain gluten, so when it matters to you, check the label on any packed atta for those.

Is millet flour good for weight loss?

It can help a weight-loss plan by making meals more filling. Bajra and ragi carry 11.5 g and 11.2 g of fibre per 100 g, and the Dietary Guidelines for Indians describe fibre as delaying absorption of carbohydrate and fat and increasing satiety. Pair millet with dal and vegetables so a meal holds longer; more on that at best millet for weight loss.

Which millet atta is good for diabetes?

On GI, bajra atta leads: its rotis and chapatis tested at a mean of 57, against 66 for boiled jowar grain and 89 for cooked little millet. A 2021 meta-analysis reports that in people with diabetes, long-term millet diets brought fasting blood glucose down about 12 per cent and post-meal glucose down about 15 per cent. Portions still count; see is millet atta good for diabetes.

What is millet atta?

Millet atta is flour milled from whole millet grain, most often bajra, jowar or ragi, with the bran left in. ICAR-IIMR notes that fibre, minerals and phenolics are concentrated in the outer layer of the grain, so whole-grain atta carries them along and a sieved flour leaves part of them behind. It kneads into rotis, bhakris and dosa batters.

Is rice a millet?

No. Rice is a cereal, but it is not one of the millets; ICAR-IIMR's millet family covers sorghum, pearl millet, finger millet, foxtail, proso, little, barnyard and kodo millet, all small-seeded grasses. Rice and millet cook the same way, which may be where the mix-up starts.

Is millet flour bad for you?

For most people, no. ICAR-IIMR does caution that ragi's oxalic acid builds up with high intake, so ragi is not advised for people with kidney stones. Otherwise, the everyday advice is simple: start with a single millet meal in the day, take enough water with the added fibre, and move up gradually from there.