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Impact of sprouting on physicochemical and nutritional properties of sorghum: a review

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Sorghum is a cereal with significant genetic erraticism. Germination and fermentation are the traditional processing techniques used to enhance its nutritional efficiency and digestibility. Germinated whole grains contain higher levels of essential amino acids responsible for protein production in the human body. Sprouting partially digests the components of starch and protein, decreases anti-nutritional factors, increases the supply of food materials with minerals and vitamins. Germination also provides desirable flavor and taste. This review sheds a light on the process of germination, physio-chemical changes during sorghum sprouting, the effect of sprouting on macronutrients, the effect of sprouting on anti-nutritional factors, the effect of sprouting on bioactive compounds, along with health benefits. It also discusses the production scenario of sorghum and the consumption scenario of sorghum.
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Vol:.(1234567890)
Journal of Food Measurement and Characterization (2021) 15:4190–4204
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11694-021-00969-9
1 3
REVIEW PAPER
Impact ofsprouting onphysicochemical andnutritional properties
ofsorghum: areview
K.M.Saithalavi1· AparajitaBhasin1· MudasirYaqoob1
Received: 25 November 2020 / Accepted: 17 May 2021 / Published online: 9 June 2021
© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2021
Abstract
Sorghum is a cereal with significant genetic erraticism. Germination and fermentation are the traditional processing tech-
niques used to enhance its nutritional efficiency and digestibility. Germinated whole grains contain higher levels of essential
amino acids responsible for protein production in the human body. Sprouting partially digests the components of starch and
protein, decreases anti-nutritional factors, increases the supply of food materials with minerals and vitamins. Germination
also provides desirable flavor and taste. This review sheds a light on the process of germination, physio-chemical changes
during sorghum sprouting, the effect of sprouting on macronutrients, the effect of sprouting on anti-nutritional factors, the
effect of sprouting on bioactive compounds, along with health benefits. It also discusses the production scenario of sorghum
and the consumption scenario of sorghum.
Keywords Sorghum· Sprouting· Physico-chemical changes· Macronutrients
Introduction
Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) is an important crop
worldwide. It is ranked fourth among the major food grains
of India following wheat, rice, and maize. It is a common
source for the staple diet in many large Asian and African
countries. In addition to being a major source of human
staple food, it also serves as an important source of food,
animal feed, and industrial raw materials [1]. In the Indian
subcontinent sorghum is the secondary center of origin.
India has a huge variety of millets including sorghum [2].
Sorghum is a cereal with a significant genetic erraticism and
a rich source of phytochemicals, including phenolic com-
pounds, phenols, plant sterols, policosanols, carotenoids,
xanthophyll, and other important nutraceutical substances
[3].
The top 10 sorghum producers in these countries include
the United States, India, Mexico, Nigeria, Sudan, Ethiopia,
Australia, Brazil, China, and Burkina Faso. Together, these
countries represent almost 77% of the world’s production of
sorghum and 70% of the world’s harvested area. Together,
Africa and Asia makeup almost 83% of the area and produce
about 57% of sorghum production [4]. In the 1992–1994
periods, approximately 27 million tonnes of sorghum were
consumed as food each year worldwide, almost the entire
amount in Africa and Asia [5].
Traditional processing techniques such as germination
and fermentation are considered to have some beneficial
effect on sorghum’s digestibility and can be used to enhance
its nutritional efficiency. Germination or sprouting not only
produces low-viscosity gruel but also partially digests the
components of starch and protein, decreases anti-nutritional
and flatus-producing factors, increases the supply of food
materials with minerals and vitamin content. Germination
also gives the product a desirable flavor and taste. It induces
a substantial increase in protein, thiamine, invitro iron, the
bioavailability of calcium, invitro starch, and the digest-
ibility of proteins [6]. Malting stimulates the functioning of
hydrolytic enzymes, improves the breakdown of starch and
proteins into their simpler forms, reducing dry matter, and
improving the metabolism of food [5].
Germination not only induces a change in the sor-
ghum grain’s structure but also initiates several changes
in biochemistry and physiology. Intrinsic enzymes such
as amylases, proteases, lipases, fiber-degrading enzymes,
and phytases are activated, distorting protein bodies and
* Mudasir Yaqoob
mudasiryaquob@gmail.com
1 Department ofFood Technology andNutrition, School
ofAgriculture, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara,
Punjab144411, India
Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved.
... It has also been highlighted as a potential food for the prevention and modulation of chronic diseases [17]. Sorghum grain has been identified as a potential source of phenolic compounds (Kang et al., 2016;Nasidi et al., 2019), which is related to its high content of dietary fiber, lipids, phenolic compounds, tannins and flavonoids such as anthocyanins, flavones and flavanones (Arbex et al., 2018;Saithalavi et al., 2021). Polyphenols are the main substances that contribute to the antioxidant properties in sorghum that is why consumption of sorghum-based diets with high levels of polyphenolic substances can exert a positive role in preventing and reducing the risk of chronic diseases, like breast and colon cancer, as well as diabetes (Hariprasanna et al., 2015; Xiong et al., 2019). ...
... Though sorghum plays a great role in healthy diets, its end use quality for human and animal consumption can be compromised by the presence of high levels of anti-nutritional properties associated with its grain such as high tannin and phytate content (Abdelhalim et al., 2019;Saithalavi et al., 2021;[24]. High levels of tannins and phytates associated with some sorghum genotypes have been identified as the leading antinutritional elements that compromise its role in human and animal diets and other effects include increased incidences of carcinogens (Luo and Xie, 2013). ...
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The current study envisioned to assess the physical traits of sorghum grain for selected sorghum genotypes. Seed for the genotypes was sourced from the Lupane State University Gene Bank and grown during the 2022/23 agricultural season at Lupane State University Farm experimental plots. At maturity, laboratory tests on kernel/grain hardness, 100 kernel weight, bulk density, kernel diameter, colour and determination of presence of tannins through qualitative tests were done for all the 24 sorghum genotypes. Results from analysis of variance demonstrated highly significant differences (P<0.001) on kernel weight, kernel diameter, kernel hardness and grain hardness showing a great diversity of physical traits among all the 22 genotypes and 2 commercial varieties of sorghum. Mean 100 kernel weight was 2.59g, kernel diameter was 3.49mm, bulk density was 1.23g/cm3 and kernel hardness was 28.9%. Visual assessment was done on grain colour and seed was classified under red, cream, white and brown sorghums, and mixed colours. A chi-square test found a significant relationship between grain colour and presence of tannins. Genotypes NPGRC3124, IS9405 showed moderate levels of tannins while IS13996, IS29925, NPGRC1699, NPGRC1156 and NPGRC1478 had high levels. A highly significant strong positive correlation was shown for sorghum genotype between kernel diameter and kernel weight (r=0.81 at p≤0.05). Highly significant positive correlation was also observed between bulk density and kernel weight (r=0.4173 at p≤0.001). Kernel hardness has a strong positive correlation with bulk density (r=0.6242). Quantification of tannins is recommended to prevent negative effects on human and livestock health.
... Sprouting primarily leads to the hydrolysis of proteins, which, in general, does not significantly alter the total protein content but does impact protein functionality (Saithalavi et al., 2021). The apparent increase in protein content in some cases may be attributed to the loss of dry weight, as carbohydrates and fats are metabolized during sprouting seed respiration. ...
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