Sorghum: An Underutilized Cereal Whole Grain with the Potential to Assist in the Prevention of Chronic Disease

Sorghum is an important cereal grain food, grown globally, that is rich in nutrients, dietary fiber, and bioactive components yet is considered of low value to humans and often used as an animal feed. This review provides an overview of key sorghum grain components, including starches, dietary fiber, protein, lipids, and phytochemicals, with functional properties that have potential to impact on health. Though acknowledging the impact of the whole food will reflect the synergy between the components, studies of these components implicate effects on energy balance, glycemic control, lipids, gut microbiota, and cell-mediated immune responses, including antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. For these to be confirmed as contributory effects from sorghum consumption, evidence from quality randomized controlled trials is required. If proven effective, there may be a role for sorghum grain–based diets to assist in the prevention of chronic diseases such as diabetes, obesity, and heart disease. Future research addressing effects of sorghum consumption may help drive a paradigm shift from sorghum as a low value food to a potentially health-promoting, highly valued human grain food

Growth temperature and genotype both play important roles in sorghum grain phenolic composition.

Polyphenols in sorghum grains are a source of dietary antioxidants. Polyphenols in six diverse sorghum genotypes grown under two day/night temperature regimes of optimal temperature (OT, 32/21 °C and high temperature (HT, 38/21 °C) were investigated. A total of 23 phenolic compounds were positively or tentatively identified by HPLC-DAD-ESIMS. Compared with other pigmented types, the phenolic profile of white sorghum PI563516 was simpler, since fewer polyphenols were detected. Brown sorghum IS 8525 had the highest levels of caffeic and ferulic acid, but apigenin and luteolin were not detected. Free luteolinidin and apigeninidin levels were lower under HT than OT across all genotypes (p ≤ 0.05), suggesting HT could have inhibited 3-deoxyanthocyanidins formation. These results provide new information on the effects of HT on specific polyphenols in various Australian sorghum genotypes, which might be used as a guide to grow high antioxidant sorghum grains under projected high temperature in the future

Flaked sorghum biscuits increase post-prandial GLP-1 and GIP levels and extend subjective satiety in healthy subjects.

SCOPE: Sorghum grain components may play a role in mechanisms that protect against development of obesity-related chronic diseases. We conducted a randomized, crossover trial (40 healthy subjects) using whole grain sorghum flaked biscuits to investigate mechanisms related to satiety. METHODS AND RESULTS: Subjects were tested on four occasions after a 12-hour fast. At baseline, they consumed 50 grams of one of four treatment meals: white, red or brown sorghum biscuits or a wheat control. Subjective satiety was measured at 8 time-points over four hours. In a subset of 20 subjects, plasma glucose, insulin, gastric inhibitory peptide (GIP), glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1), peptide-tyrosine-tyrosine (PYY) and ghrelin were measured. Subjects reported significantly lower subjective satiety ratings after consuming wheat compared to sorghum biscuits. Incremental AUC of postprandial GLP-1, GIP and in males, PYY, were significantly higher (p = 0.018, p = 0.031, p = 0.036 respectively) for sorghum breakfasts compared to wheat. Energy intake at a subsequent meal did not differ between treatments. CONCLUSIONS: Sorghum whole grain is a promising novel ingredient in foods targeting satiety as an adjunct for weight control. Evidence is now required from randomized controlled trials that aim to examine specific effects on health outcomes from a sorghum-enriched intervention diet. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved