Sorghum Grain: From Genotype, Nutrition, and Phenolic Profile to Its Health Benefits and Food Applications

Abstract

Globally, sorghum is one of the most important but least utilized staple crops. Sorghum grain is a rich source of nutrients and health‐beneficial phenolic compounds. The phenolic profile of sorghum is exceptionally unique and more abundant and diverse than other common cereal grains. The phenolic compounds in sorghum are mainly composed of phenolic acids, 3‐deoxyanthocyanidins, and condensed tannins. Studies have shown that sorghum phenolic compounds have potent antioxidant activity in vitro, and consumption of sorghum whole grain may improve gut health and reduce the risks of chronic diseases. Recently, sorghum grain has been used to develop functional foods and beverages, and as an ingredient incorporated into other foods. Moreover, the phenolic compounds, 3‐deoxyanthocyanidins, and condensed tannins can be isolated and used as promising natural multifunctional additives in broad food applications. The objective of this review is to provide a comprehensive understanding of nutrition and phenolic compounds derived from sorghum and their related health effects, and demonstrate the potential for incorporation of sorghum in food systems as a functional component and food additive to improve food quality, safety, and health functions.

Changes in phenolic content, antioxidant activity, and volatile compounds during processing of fermented sorghum grain tea

“…Sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench), the fifth primary cereal crop in the world, has been attracting much attention because of its high content of phytochemicals (Ragaee, Abdel‐Aal, & Noaman, 2006). Sorghum grains contain high portion of bioactive phytochemicals such as phenolic acids, procyanidins, 3‐deoxyanthocyanidins, and condensed tannins (Vanamala, Massey, Pinnamaneni, Reddivari, & Reardon, 2017; Xiong, Zhang, Warner, & Fang, 2019a). Epidemiological studies have consistently shown that the consumption of sorghum products is associated with reduced risk of chronic diseases, including type II diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer owing to the phenolic profile (Awika & Rooney, 2004).…”

Fermentability and nutritional characteristics of sorghum Mahewu supplemented with Bambara groundnut

“…Furthermore, consumers nowadays are interested in indigenous crops, like sorghum, that offer health benefits and gluten‐free advantage. Compared to maize, sorghum is known to contain polyphenol compounds such as gallic acid, caffeic acid, naringenin, eriodictyol, apigenin, luteolin, and 3‐deoxyanthocyanidins (Xiong, Zhang, Warner, & Fang, 2019). These compounds have unique bioactive properties such as cancer prevention, promotion of cardiovascular health and reduction of chronic inflammation, and oxidative stress (Yang, Allred, Dykes, Allred, & Awika, 2015; Yang, Allred, Geera, Allred, & Awika, 2012; Yang, Browning, & Awika, 2009).…”

Tortilla chips made with white sorghum and corn: Comparison of sensory and physicochemical characteristics with corn‐made commercial products

“…Tortilla chips made entirely from white sorghum showed the darkest color. The increase of white sorghum in tortilla chips was associated with the reduction of a yellow coloration and an increase in red tones in products, which might be related to the higher concentration of tannins in tortilla chips(Sedghi, Golian, Soleimani‐Roodi, Ahmadi & Aami‐Azghadi, 2012; Xiong, Zhang, Warner, & Fang, 2019), as it can be seen in Table 1. The presence of red tones on the surface of the samples could be also explained by the contribution of brown‐colored compounds generated during the frying operation, which leads to the reaction between amino acids and sugars present in the flour of sorghum and corn by the effect of the Maillard reaction (Tamanna & Mahmood 2015; Wong, Aziz, & Mohamed, 2008).…”

“…The phenolic compounds present in grains are mostly bound to cell wall structures and a proportion of them are lost during the nixtamalization process (Delgado et al., 2016). The presence of several phenolic compounds with anti‐proliferative effects on cancer cells has been reported in sorghum grains (Cox et al., 2019), and are mainly comprised of phenolic acids, flavonoids, and condensed tannins (Shen et al., 2018; Xiong et al., 2019). It has been reported that Total Phenolic Content (TPC) is highly affected by the color of sorghum (Shen et al., 2018) and corn grains (Delgado et al., 2016) as well as the different varieties and conditions of agricultural production (Guzmán‐Maldonado, Vázquez‐Carrillo, Aguirre‐Gómez, & Serrano‐Fujarte, 2015; Wu, Johnson, Bornman, Bennett, & Fang, 2017).…”

“…Sorghum grains differ in terms of bioactive compound content depending on the variety. In this study, the commercial potential of tortilla chips made with white sorghum was tested and this variety of sorghum has the lowest levels of total phenolic and very low levels of tannins (Shen et al., 2018; Xiong et al., 2019). In order to develop functional products with a higher content of bioactive compounds, further studies should focus on the analysis of acceptance for products made with other varieties when modifying appearance.…”