Mysore/Mysuru: A two-day National workshop on ‘Gerobiotic supplementation through fermented millet beverage and millet curd’ was held recently at CSIR-CFTRI. This workshop was sponsored by the Probiotic Association of India (PAi).

Dr. Sridevi Annapurna Singh, Director, CSIR-CFTRI, who inaugurated the two-day workshop, highlighted the benefits of millets and their potential anti-aging role. She also emphasised  that fermentation may be the possible solution for reduction of anti-nutrient factors in millet. She noted that even though microbes are small, their benefits are numerous as many new fields are emerging as part of microbiology such as probiotic, prebiotic, postbiotic, parabiotics and now gerobiotics.

Dr. Prakash M. Halami, Organising Secretary and Head, Microbiology and Fermentation Technology, welcomed and explained about CSIR-CFTRI recent activities and its involvement in the celebration of the International Year of Millet-2023 and also the importance of  conducting this workshop with reference to millets for georobiotics supplementation and role as Shree Anna for gut microbiota and its products as well as their health benefits.

Dr. B. Sesikeran, former Director of ICMR-National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad and former RC member of CSIR-CFTRI, spoke about gut microbiome – ageing and probiotics. He stated that aging is a complex process associated with a combination of genetic and environmental factors and gut health would also change with age and possibly prebiotics and probiotics could be part of natural healthy aging.

Prof. Ramesh Sharma, former Dean, Life Sciences, North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong, spoke about calorie restriction as an anti-aging intervention with emphasis on gut microbiome and correlation between longevity and brain size.

Dr. R. Baby Latha, Principal Technical Officer, CSIR-CFTRI, spoke about Pearl millet, a healthy-cereal and explained about nutritional profile, processing techniques, health benefits, products through probiotic incorporation and problem associated with pearl millet, in order to bring out the great potential of this important small grain to producers and consumers.

This workshop had seven practical sessions on the techniques associated with anti-aging markers and supplementation of gerobiotics through millets product. Panel discussion was also organised to interact with experts in the field of millet, gut microbiota and probiotics.

Over 90 participants from various parts of the country attended the workshop — 29 of them in offline mode. A poster presentation session was also held wherein online as well as offline participants had the opportunity to present the research findings. Participation certificates and prizes were distributed to the poster presenters during the valedictory function.