The growing prominence of nutrition-related health problems demands strategies that explore nontraditional natural ingredients to expand healthy food alternatives. Specialty sorghums were decorticated using a tangential abrasive dehulling device (TADD) to remove successive bran layers, which were collected at 1 min intervals and analyzed for phenols, tannins, 3-deoxyanthocyanins, dietary fiber, and antioxidant activity. The first two bran fractions had the highest levels of phenols and antioxidant activity (3-6 times as compared to whole grain). Brown (tannin-containing) and black sorghums had at least 10 times higher antioxidant activity than white sorghum or red wheat brans. Black sorghums had the highest 3-deoxyanthocyanin content (up to 19 mg/g bran). Dietary fiber in sorghum brans ranged between 36 and 45%, as compared to 48% for wheat bran. Specialty sorghum brans are rich in valuable dietary components and present promising opportunities for improving health attributes of food.

Structural changes occurred in corn and sorghum during the alkalinecooking process as it progressed from the raw kernel to the tortilla. The alkali weakened the cell walls, facilitating the removal of the pericarp, solubilized cell walls in the peripheral endosperm, caused swelling and partial destruction of starch granules, and modified the physical appearance of the protein bodies. Masa (ground nlxtamal) consisted of small pieces of germ, pericarp, aleurone and endosperrn, and free starch granules, cell fragments, and dissolved or dispersed solids and lipids in water. During tortilla baking, an additional degradation of cell walls, further loss of starch crystallinity, and partial destruction of protein bodies occurred.

Cereal Chem. 77(2):96-100Three white food sorghums, ATx631*RTx436, ATxARG*RTx436, and SC283-14, were decorticated, milled into flour and processed into 100% sorghum noodles. Flour, water, and salt (1%) were preheated using a hotplate or a microwave oven. The mixtures were put through a forming extruder to produce noodles. Extruded noodles were dried by three methods: air-dry method (23°C, 48 hr); one-stage (60°C, 30% rh, 3 hr), or two-stage (60°C, 100% rh for 2 hr followed by 60°C, 30% rh for 2 hr). Noodles were evaluated dry and after cooking. Sorghum flours with smaller particle sizes yielded better noodles. The microwave preheating method yielded better noodles than the hot-plate method. Stronger and firmer noodles, dry or cooked, were prepared using two-stage drying compared with the other drying methods. Fine flour that was preheated using a microwave oven and dried using the two-stage method gave the best noodles with moderate (10%) dry matter loss. Optimized processing conditions yielded sorghum noodles with good qualities when properly cooked.Publication no. C-2000-0209-02R.

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