Sorghum grain as human food in Africa: relevance of content of starch and amylase activities

TLDR

Sorghum is a staple grain in semi‑arid and tropical regions, especially Sub‑Saharan Africa, valued for its environmental resilience and high yield, and its key biochemical components include starch fractions and starch‑depolymerizing enzymes. The study aims to identify sorghum varieties that meet specific agricultural and food requirements from the species’ biodiversity to support food security. The authors discuss how starch content and starch‑degrading enzymes influence sorghum’s suitability for diverse foods—from infant porridges and couscous to local beer, lager, and bread—in both developing and developed contexts. They find that certain sorghum varieties are rich in micronutrients, macronutrients, and resistant starch, offer benefits for obese and diabetic individuals, serve as a gluten‑free alternative, and possess malt‑enzyme activities comparable to barley, making them valuable for agro‑industrial products.

Abstract

Sorghum is a staple food grain in many semi-arid and tropic areas of the world, notably in Sub-Saharan Africa because of its good adaptation to hard environments and its good yield of production. Among important biochemical components for sorghum processing are levels of starch (amylose and amylopectin) and starch depolymerizing enzymes. Current research focus on identifying varieties meeting specific agricultural and food requirements from the great biodiversity of sorghums to insure food security. Results show that some sorghums are rich sources of micronutrients (minerals and vitamins) and macronutrients (carbohydrates, proteins and fat). Sorghum has a resistant starch, which makes it interesting for obese and diabetic people. In addition, sorghum may be an alternative food for people who are allergic to gluten. Malts of some sorghum varieties display α α α α-amylase and s-amylase activities comparable to those of barley, making them useful for various agro-industrial foods. The feature of sorghum as a food in developing as well as in developed countries is discussed. A particular emphasis is made on the impact of starch and starch degrading enzymes in the use of sorghum for some African foods, e.g. “to”, thin porridges for infants, granulated foods “couscous”, local beer “dolo”, as well agro-industrial foods such as lager beer and bread.