Entomopathogenic Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium anisopliae are well-known biological control agents worldwide and have high potential in industrialization. However their thermo-susceptibility limits long-term storage under high temperature conditions and high insecticidal activity after application to target pests. Herein we isolated highly virulent isolates, B. bassiana JEF006 and JEF007 and M. anisopliae JEF003 and JEF004, and produced in three grains, such as sorghum, millet and Italian millet as substrates for solid cultures, followed by thermotolerance assays to compare the potential of the three substrates for thermotolerance. The JEF isolates were exposed to dry and wet heat at 50°C and overall conidia were more stable under dry heat condition rather than wet heat. Of the three grains, Italian millet was superior to the other grains in the production of thermotolerant conidia. Additionally Italian millet did not severely aggregated, which enabled air to penetrate into the substrate well compared to the sorghum and millet. JEF isolates were more thermotolerant when they were kept in oil conditions as carriers of an oil-based formulation. This work suggests that Italian millet can be used as an effective substrate to produce more thermotolerant conidia, thus maintaining viability for long times under unfavorable environment and biological activity against target pests.

The edible barnyard millets(Echinochloa spp.) which have essentially vanished in the farmhouses environment and in agricultural germplasm were evaluated with the aim of restoration as a crop. The proximate components and mineral elements of milled millet were nutritionally similar or better than brown rice, and the vitamin contents of B1 and B2 exceeded those of rice by 1.3 times and 2.3 times, respectively. β-Carotene which is absent from brown rice was detected at levels ranging from 15～31 ㎍ in millet samples. Nine essential amino acids, including histidine and arginine and eight non-essential amino acids, such as aspartic acid were detected. The sum of all amino acids was determined to be IEC518>525>510 in the range of 69～106 ㎎/g. Analysis of physiological active substances via their electron donating ability(EDA) revealed values ranging from 3.4～8.2%, with the total polyphenol component being 51.1～69.4 ㎎/g and α-glucosidase inhibition ability determined as 8.3～10.9%. In terms of agronomical characteristics and yields of barnyard millet, three millet varieties(IEC510, 518, and 525) were suitable as edible crops. IEC525 was selected as optimum variety for cultivation on the basis of nutritional ingredients, physiological active substances, and yield.