What Is the Difference Between Proso Millet and Foxtail Millet? A Quick Guide to Telling Them Apart

Foxtail millet and proso millet are both common grains, and many people eat proso millet and foxtail millet to vary their meals, so do you know the difference between proso millet and foxtail millet?

1. The difference between proso millet and foxtail millet

Before it is hulled, foxtail millet is called guzi. Before it is hulled, proso millet is called broomcorn millet (mizi). In terms of appearance, foxtail millet has small grains, while broomcorn millet has large grains. Also, the outer husk of foxtail millet is yellow, while the outer husk of broomcorn millet is red.

Proso millet was originally a grain of the north. According to the dictionary, it is the hulled fruit of broomcorn millet (common millet), slightly larger than foxtail millet, pale yellow in color, and very sticky when cooked. Proso millet and foxtail millet both come from the north, but in the eyes of northerners, proso millet ranks above foxtail millet. Foxtail millet is the hulled fruit of guzi. People use proso millet in place of glutinous rice, and in some places they even use it to make cakes for guests. Even in its initial processing it can be made into many varieties, and with further processing it can be pan-fried or deep-fried. Vendors selling zongzi often place the glutinous rice ones and the proso millet ones side by side, raising the price of the proso millet ones to the same level as the glutinous rice ones. But in people's minds, proso millet is still proso millet after all; they raise its price while consciously or unconsciously lowering its quality, and in the end proso millet can never rank alongside glutinous rice. Foxtail millet, after processing, can be made into foxtail millet rice. It was once one of the staple foods of the north.

You can tell them apart directly by looking at the panicles growing in the field: the panicle of foxtail millet - the foxtail millet panicle - is made up of individual strands, very thick, while the broomcorn millet has many panicles, but they are all very thin. Broomcorn millet, at the beginning, has a yellow outer husk, and only after that layer of husk is removed is it red; when eating it, the red husk is milled off to yield proso millet.

2. Main value

1. Foxtail millet has the effects of clearing heat and relieving thirst, and can ease symptoms such as weak spleen and stomach qi and indigestion. Eating foxtail millet nourishes and boosts qi and tonifies kidney qi; among the five grains, foxtail millet has the strongest kidney-tonifying effect. Foxtail millet has the effects of strengthening the spleen and harmonizing the stomach, and can treat disharmony of the spleen and stomach, chronic diarrhea due to spleen deficiency, indigestion, and abdominal pain from food accumulation. Foxtail millet can treat bad breath and to a certain extent relieve athlete's foot. Foxtail millet has beauty benefits.

2. Proso millet is sweet in taste and slightly cold in nature; it has the effects of nourishing yin, benefiting the lungs, and benefiting the large intestine; it can treat excess yang with yin deficiency, sleeplessness at night, chronic diarrhea with weak stomach, and conditions such as chilblains, scabies, toxic heat, and toxic swelling.

Foxtail millet and proso millet are both very common grain foods, both are good for the body, and can be eaten in moderation in larger amounts.