EFFECT OF MALTING ON PROTEIN DIGESTIBILITY OF SOME SORGHUM (Sorghum bicolor) VARIETIES GROWN IN KENYA

Protein digestibility of sorghum is generally low. Malting is one of the processing methods which can be applied to improve this digestibility. It is a method whose technology is well known by local communities in Kenya. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of malting on the digestibility of some varieties of sorghum grain grown in Kenya. Protein digestibility in the grain and malt was determined using porcine pepsin. In raw unmalted sorghum, the protein digestibility ranged from 0% in the high tannin varieties of Essuti, IS 8613, Nakhadabo and Seredo to 66.4% in the low tannin IESV 91022. Cooking decreased the digestibility of all the sorghum grain whose digestibility was above 0%, mostly the low tannin varieties. When the sorghum grain was malted, the digestibility ranged from a minimum of 45.5% in Essuti to 88.7% in KM 1 in the raw sorghum. In the cooked malted sorghum, the digestibility ranged from 23.7% in Seredo to 100% in the low tannin varieties of KM1, IESV 91022 and KAT 386. There were significant differences (