Sorghum sankati is a type of thick porridge consumed in South lndia and is prepared by

cooking coarse flour grits from either dehulled grain or whole grain. Domestic methods of

sankati preparation and consumption are described. Thirty sorghum cuhivars were evaluated

for sankati quality by using taste panels at two locations. Grain with intermediate and hard

endosperm texture anda white creamy pericarp produced sankati with the preferred qualitie

House, L R

Murty, D S

Patil, H D

ICRISAT Open Access Repository

cQ- $33 Sankati Quality Evaluation of Sorghum Cultivars D. S. Murty, ti. D. Patil, and L. R.  House* (4 Summary Sorghum sankati is a type of thick porridge consumed in South lndia and is prepared by cooking coarse flour grits from either dehulled grain or whole grain. Domestic methods of sankati preparation and consumption are described. Thirty sorghum cuhivars were evaluated for sankati quality by using taste panels at two locations. Grain with intermediate and hard endosperm texture anda white creamy pericarp produced sankati with the preferred qualities. Sankati (Telugu) is a type of thick porridge made 'rom sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) in veral parts of South India. It is called by different b es in various regional languages, e.g., mudda (Telugu), mudde (Kannada), and kali (Tamil). Sorghum sankati is consumed in the Rayalaseema tracts of Andhra Pradesh, the souther11 tracts of Karnataka, and all over Tamil Nadu. There is no wthentic information on the extent of sankati :onsumption. However, keeping in view the jietary habits in various regions, we estimate that n the state of Tamil Nadu, about 60 to 70% of sorghum consumed is taken in the form of sankati. In Andhra Pradesh, approximately 50% of the sorghum produced is eaten as sankati while in Karnataka approximately 30% of the sorghum is zonsumed assankati. On the basis of the statewide sorghum production figures (Government of lndia 1980), we estimate that approximately 15 to 20% of the sorghum produced in lndia is consumed in the form of sankati. It is eaten by adults as well as children from the age of 4 years. Sankati is usually consumed with a range of side dishes such as yl ce, dhal from pulses, pickles, chutneys, butter ~ k ,  curd, curries, etc. Pushpamma and Geervani (1 981 ) reported the nutrient composition of sor- ghum sankati. Pearl millet (Pennisetum ameri- canum Leeke) and finger millet (Eleucine cora- cana) grains are also used for the preparation of sankati. " Murty is Sorghum Breeder; Patil is Research Technician; House is Program Leader. Sorghum Improvement Program, ICRISAT. Domestic Met  hods of Sen keti Preparation Milling Traditionally, sorghum grains are dehulled in a stone mortar w ~ t h  a wooden pestle after moisten- ing the grain. The endosperm (mostly broken) that is recovered after wash~ng the grain is either used directly for cooking or dried and ground to a coarse flour in a rotary stone mill. The bran and washes are fed to animals. However in recent years, the dehulling process has been generally given up and is only occasionally practiced. Increased urbanization and the availability of electrically-powered flour mills have prompted consumers to use grits from whole grains to save time and avoid cumbersome processing. Whole grains are either ground to grits in rotary stone mills, or are taken to flour mills and a mixture of grits and coarse flour is obtained. The milled product is sifted with a very coarse sieve (com- parable to US ,  standard mesh 20) to separate fines from grits. Coarse bran pieces are removed by winnowing. Cooking A I : 3 proportion of sorghum grits/flour and water is generally used for preparing sankati. Water is allowed to boil in a vessel and the grits are added to the boiling water coupled with stirring. After about 10 min the fines are added to the cooking medium followed by stirring. The cooking process continues for 3 more min; the vessel is removed from the fire. Sankati is poured onto a moist plate -- - -- Tabs 2. Mechanical dehulling results. Dehulling Extraction Sample. time (min) rate ( %) / Dehulling c d t e r i s t i c s  White Control 1 87 Excellent Red Control 1.5 83 Swarna 1 88 Excellent CSH-5 1 90 Excellent E35-1 1 65 Good but so f t ja in  // 1 +J 90 Few brokeygrains, some bran still on kernels 1 89 Excellenp' 1.5 83 Kerne1,dreakage 50%. soft grain, some bran sti on kernels 2 73' Kern,#! breakage 50% 1 86 ~qzdlent / 1' J Dobbs 1 82 .hood but some not dehulled 18-9985 1 83 +' Good, 30% broken grain Segaolane 1 82 1' Excellent S-14 1 89,'' Excellent I a. Atter 1.5 min of dehulling, the gram seemed to +beall the bran removed; however the wo id it should bedehulled again. I n k  last 30 sec the grain began to break. As a rpult, the sample was overprocessed. I i Table 3. Summary of porAdge taste test. , J ~  ~ o t o ~ b  wa tlng Mosokwane f Sample A N A ~  A NA Comments J Control Wh~te Control Red Swarna CSH-5 E35-1 X 18-7035 S-29 / X 1' X Porridge had a disagreeable taste when fermented. % Disliked color: would use only as last resort. IS-705 X Disliked color; would use only as last resort. C04 ?' X X / j  This was one of the most popular samples; color very appealing. ~ 3 5 6 5 2  X ,A Appealing white porridge. Dobbs ,$I X Unacceptable color and taste. 18-9985 X .: x Acceptable. Segaolane X i X Acceptable. S-13 X X Appealing white porridge. a. A = Acceptable. b. NA = Not acceptable. and is frequently made into balls of 10-cm di- ameter by hand. Sankati is eaten either fresh or stored overnight submerged in water or butter- milk. A sankati that is light in color and slightly sweet in taste is preferred. It should not besticky or pasty. Sankati should remain firm when stored in water so as to allow eating by hand. It should not disintegrate into smqll pleces. Consumers prefer a sankati that is similar to cooked rice in texture. Sankati Quality Evaluation The sankatiquality of 30 sorghum cultivars (25 of them were chosen for the International Sorghum Food Quality Trials, 1980), was evaluated at two different locations, Bhavanisagar (Tamil Nadu) and Anantapur (Andhra Pradesh), with the aid of farm women. Standard methods to prepare and evaluate sankati were determined after interview- a large number of consumers, mostly farm irkers. The following procedure was adopted for T preparing sankati at the two locations: 1. Grain samples (300g) were dried to a mois- ture level of about 10% and were ground to grits Dn a carborundum stone grinder (Milcent size D-2, 0.5 HP) by suitable uniform pressure adjust- ments. The mixture of grits and coarse flour was sifted on a Ro-Tap Shaker with a U.S. standard 20 mesh sieve. The grits and the fines were kept separate. 2. The samples were cooked on an electric stove. Three hundred ml of water was boiled in a vessel and 50g  grits were added to the water followed by stirring. Additional quantities of hot water were added as required. Just before the grits were completely cooked, the fine flour (50g) was added to the cooking medium followed by stirring. Sankati was removed from the stove after a semisolid consistency was obtained which took approximately 2 min. The total quantity of water take and the cooking time were recorded. 3. Sankati samples were scored for color, taste, D and texture on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = good) by a panel of six farm women 1 hr after the sankati was prepared. Keeping quality of sankati was evalu- ated after overnight storage. At Bhavanisagar, sankati samples were submerged in water and left overnight while at Anantapur they were placed individually in a cloth wrap and left in a pot. The samples were evaluated for keeping quality next morning on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = good). Average scores for various quality characters of sankati obtained at the two locations are pre- sented in Table 1. Traditionally, consumers use mostly yellow and red pericarp sorghums for sankati preparation, since these are widely grown in South India, although white pericarp types are also utilized for the same purpose. The yellow and red pericarp gram types are characterized by a medium to thick pericarp, 10 to 20% corneous endosperm confined to the periphery, and a large part of floury and slightly sweet endosperm. Their milling quality in terms of pericarp removal by the mortar-and-pestle method is good. However, the endosperm gets broken and losses in the process of washing are considerable. When the grains are milled in a flour mill to grits, some coarse bran gets separated and is rejected by winnowing. On the average, among the 30 cultivars studied the water uptake of grits from corneous grains was slightly higher. They also took more tlme for cooklng. The range of variat~on for color, taste, texture, and keeping quality was broad. The cultivars C04 and Patcha Jonna represent the local varieties of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and their sankati ac- ceptability scores were good. However, the pane- lists generally preferred a white colored product. Sankati from brown, or sorghums with a subcoat, was disliked because of poor color and bad taste. In general, white grain types with a medium to hard endosperm texture were preferred. Sankati made from grain samples of cultivars CSH-5, M500013, M50297, and Mothi was good for all the organoleptic qualities and proved better than the local yellow and red pericarp types. At Anantapur, sankati with a moderate hardness or firm texture was preferred while at Bhavanisagar, a moderate soft product was acceptable. These differences illustrated the variation in regional preferences for sankati texture. References GOVERN MEN^ OF INDIA. 1980. Agricultural SitUatlOn In India. Published by the D~rectorate of Economics and Statistics, Ministry of Agr~culture. New Delhi. 24: 690 691. MURTY. D. S., and HOUSE, L. R. 1980. Sorghum food quality: its assessment and improvement. Presented at the Joint Meeting of the UNDP-CIMMYT-ICRISAT Policy Advisory Committee, 14-1 8 Oct 1980, ICRISAT, Patancheru, India. PUSHPAMM~. P., and GEERVANI, P. 1981. Nutritive value of traditional recipes of Andhra Pradesh. Hyderbad, India: Andhra Pradesh Agricultural University, 159 pp. 

Sankati Quality Evaluation of Sorghum Cultivars

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