FOOD SCIENCE ›› 2004, Vol. 25 ›› Issue (10): 431-436.

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Sorghum Foods: New Health Benefits from an Ancient Grain

 Okkyung  Kim Chung, Scott  R.Bean, Seok-Ho  Park   

  1. 1.USDA/ARS, Manhattan, KS 66502.USA;2.Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506,USA
  • Online:2004-10-15 Published:2011-10-24

Abstract: Sorghum is an ancient grain first domesticated in Africa and spread to other parts of the world around 3000 B.C.Sorghum is a drought-resistant cereal grain, often growing in semi-arid conditions where other cereal grains cannot. Worldsorghum production was 54.5 million metric tons (mmt) in 2002. Annually the U.S. produces 13~15mmt, of which 30%~50%is exported. While sorghum has traditionally been used primarily as animal feed in western countries, nearly 40% of the worldsorghum production is used for human food in Africa, India, etc. In the U.S., white food-grade hybrids are being used for theproduction of wheat-free foods for persons with celiac disease, who cannot consume wheat or related cereal grains such as ryeand barley due to intolerance to gluten proteins. They provide relatively bland, white flour that can be used to produce numerouswheat-free food products. As sorghum lacks gluten, sorghum flour cannot produce visco-elastic dough, thus, a batter-typeformulation is used to produce sorghum products including bread, waffles, noodles, and pizza crust, which are typically madefrom wheat. Research has shown that sorghum lines produce higher quality foods, thus sorghum may be bred for improvedproduct quality. Recent research also shows that this ancient grain may have unique health benefits, due to high anti-oxidantlevels related to their polyphenolic compound and sorghum wax, containing policosanols, which may be important in cardiachealth. A challenge for people with celiac disease is supplying steady healthy staple foods, especially in the western worldwhere wheat products are a major staple food. Therefore, the ancient grain sorghum has drawn new interest and has promise asan important cereal grain in the 21st century due to: (a) potential staple foods for people with celiac disease; (b) high anti-oxidants and wax levels for nutritional and health claims; and (c) the drought resistant nature of sorghum and good productionwith limited water due to the anticipated exponential growth of the human population in the 2030’s.