A ROLE OF STARCH OF ELEUSIN CORACANA GAERTN. (RAGI SATWA) IN MANAGEMENT OF MALNUTRITION

Abstract

Malnutrition is the most wide spread condition affecting mainly health of children. It is defined as and appose; a pathological state resulting from a relative or absolute deficiency of one or more essential nutrients. Ragi is the common name of Finger Millet in Southern part of India. It is one of the most nutritious food and one of the easy one to digest. It is rich in calcium and protein and also has good amount of iron and other minerals. It is low in fat most of which are unsaturated fats. An open-label, prospective, interventional, and exploratory clinical trial was carried out to evaluate the efficacy of Ragi Satwa 3o patients suffering from mild to moderate malnutrition. Administration of “Ragi Satwa” for 90 days showed a significant increase in mean score of BMI, Agni, height for age, weight for height, mid arm circumference, weight for age & abdominal girth. It also enhanced biochemical parameters like Hb, RBCs, TLC, ESR, Sr. protein, Sr. albumin.