High-quality instant sorghum porridge flours for the West African market using continuous processor cooking

Abstract

The overall goal of this study was to develop high quality, pregelatinised sorghum flours for instant thin and thick porridges, foods that are commonly consumed in the West Africa Sahel. Use of a continuous processor, a high shear/low pressure mixer, with feed sorghum flour moisture content of 30% to 35% and a screw temperature fixed at 168 °C gave instant sorghum flours with stable and creamy thin and thick porridge textures. Water activity of 0.22–0.35 for instant flours was within an acceptable range for dried commercial cereal foods. Molecular weight distributions of starch molecules showed significant fragmentation in instant flours that likely contributed to their smoother and creamy texture, and rheometry showed stronger gels and lower viscosity for the instant thick and thin porridges, respectively. In sensory testing performed in Niger at four locations, instant flour thin and thick porridges scored better than the control prepared locally from the same flour.