Pearl millet is an important source of nutrients for human diet. In the present study, four wild and
improved Tunisian pearl millet varieties were evaluated in terms of their nutritional composition and rheological
behaviors. The nutritional composition screening revealed that millet had important nutrients quantities namely,
starch (59.17- 75.54 %), protein (9.19-14.6 %), ash (2.48-2.56 %), lipid (5-6.31%), β-carotene (0,059-0,097
mg/100 g) and total phenolic (0.26-0.39%). Principal components analysis showed that IRA1 (improved) and
Jerbi (wild) varieties had the richest nutritional value, while Magrebi (wild) had high mineral and amylopectin
contents. However, IRA2 (improved) variety had high amount of proteins. The rheological evaluation showed that
all millet starch and flour depicted shear-thinning (pseudoplastic) behavior (n < 1) fitting perfectly to the
Herschel–Bulkley model (R2 ranging from 0.98 to 0.99). These findings confirmed important genetic diversity
between the studied seeds.
