Proceedings of the International Symposium on Sorghum Grain Quality

There has long been a need to review the present knowledge on the quality of sorghum grain, especially since it is one of the major food grains of 700 million people living under impoverished conditions in the semi-arid tropics. To meet this need, ICRISAT hosted an International Symposium on Sorghum Grain Quality in October 1981 at ICRISAT Center near Hyderabad, India. It was sponsored by the USAID Title XII Collaborative Research Support Program on Sorghum and Pearl Millet ( INTSORMIL) , the Indian Council of Agricultural Research ( ICAR) ,and the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). Participants interested in sorghum as a food who attended the Symposium represented diverse disciplines: food technology, home economics, nutrition, breeding, biochemistry, food processing, engineering, pathology, and economics, and the topics included the existing knowledge on preparing sorghum as a food, its grain structure and deterioration, milling and laboratory methods for evaluating and improving food quality, nutrition, consumer acceptance, marketing, and quality standards. A wide range of sorghum grain types is used to prepare different solid and liquid foods such as porridges, leavened and unleavened breads, snacks, beverages, and beer. However, there are two major disadvantages of sorghum as a food—the problems of nutrient uptake, and the constant drudgery involved in hand pounding and hand grinding to make sorghum flour. Sorghum grain quality is a complex subject. Only in recent years have nutritionists and millers studied the problems associated wi t h sorghum. To replace hand processing, several pilot projects using machines for pearling and grinding are under way in some locations in Africa. Increasingly, plant breeders are developing new varieties and hybrids. For successful adoption of new cultivars by farmers, consumer acceptance is an essential requirement. We need more information on why sorghum is accepted or rejected as a food, and work still needs to be done to develop laboratory tests to screen sorghum for food quality