The present study aimed to investigate the composition and structure of sorghum spent grains (SSG) as a pre-requisite for evaluating potential applications of this brewery co-product. SSG samples sourced from African breweries employing a grist with a proportion of a hammer milled-unmalted sorghum (Sorghum vulgare cv. Fara Fara) were found to be heterogeneous materials containing remnants of intact grains, and with particles ranging in size from <0.1 to >2 mm. Samples contained a considerable amount of residual starch (4.6-10.0% d.b.), much higher than typically reported for barley-derived spent grains. This probably arises from the use of grists high in unmalted sorghum, but indicates that improvements in brewing process efficiency could be achieved with improvements, for example, in milling and mashing protocols.
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