[Objective] To explore a method for the rapid determination of protein con- tent in grains of Panicum miliaceum L. [Method] The near infrared transmittance spec- troscopy (NITS) was used to build the mathematical models for the quantitative analy- sis of protein content in the grains. Four combinations of treatment that first derivative and second derivative were respectively combined with partial least squares (PLS) and modified partial least squares (MPLS) were set to compare their effects on the original transmission spectrum. [Result] The predicting effects of the 4 combinations were similar. The optimal combination was first derivative with MPLS, in which the average determination coefficient of validation (RSQ) was 0.880 6, correlation coeffi- cient of cross validation (1-VR) was 0.857 0, standard error of calibration (SEC) was 0.342 4, standard error of cross validation (SECV) was 0.375 1, and the standard er- ror of prediction (SEP) was 0.454. [Conclusion] The constructed NITS model is a rapid way for the determination of protein content in grains of P. miliaceum.