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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BHNRC) » Beltsville Human Nutrition Research Center » Food for Health of People and the Environment Lab » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #414479
Research Project: FoodData Central

Location: Food for Health of People and the Environment Lab

Title: Unveiling nutritional potential: Exploring sorghum as a hidden gem in global diets

Author
item YAMPAI, KRITCHANAN - University Of Maryland
item ADEEB, BONNETTA - Steam Onward Inc
item Fukagawa, Naomi

Submitted to: Nutrition Today
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/31/2024
Publication Date: 12/1/2024
Citation: Yampai, K., Adeeb, B., Fukagawa, N.K. 2024. Unveiling nutritional potential: Exploring sorghum as a hidden gem in global diets. Nutrition Today. 59(6):324-328. https://doi.org/10.1097/NT.0000000000000715.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1097/NT.0000000000000715

Interpretive Summary: Sorghum, an ancient drought-resistant crop from the grass family, is characterized by five main races. It is grouped into four types based on its use: grain, sweet, broom, and grass sorghum. Grain sorghum is used as a cereal, flour, or to make drinking alcohol. Additionally, it can be used as a clothes dye, with colored pigments being extracted from its leaves, stems, and sometimes seeds. Sweet sorghum is used to make syrups and as feedstock for biofuel production, particularly ethanol for flex-fuel vehicles designed to run on blends of ethanol and gasoline [21]. Broom sorghum is suitable for making brooms and brushes, while grass sorghum is often used in producing pet food, forage, and pastures. This factsheet will focus on the types intended for human consumption.

Technical Abstract: Sorghum is an ancient, drought-resistant crop from the grass family characterized by 5 main races, a term used to define a less formal subdivision of subspecies that are physically and genetically different. It is further grouped into 4 types based on its use: grain, sweet, broom, and grass sorghum. Grain sorghum (Figure 1A) is used as a cereal, made into flour, to make drinking alcohol, and in clothes dyes, because colored pigments can be extracted from sorghum leaves, stems, and sometimes seeds. Sweet sorghum (Figure 1B) is used to make syrups and for biofuel production, particularly ethanol for “flex-fuel” vehicles designed to run on blends of ethanol and gasoline. Broom sorghum is suitable for making brooms and brushes. Grass sorghum is often used to produce pet food, forage, and as pasture grass. This article focuses on the sorghum types intended for human consumption.