Typescript (photocopy).The nutritional values of maize (MZ), whole sorghum (WS) and pearled sorghum (PS) tortillas were evaluated with ileum cannulated pigs, weanling rats and three in vitro assays. The experiment carried out with pigs was designed to study the effect of lime treatment on nutrient digestibility at the terminal ileum and over the total digestive tract of pigs. Dry matter (DMD), gross energy (GED), crude protein (CPD) and average amino acid (AAD) digestibilities at both the terminal ileum and over the total digestive tract of the pig were significantly higher (P 0.10) in DMD, GED, CPD and AAD were observed when lime treated and non-lime treated grains were compared. However, lysine digestibility was decreased about 5% points at the terminal ileum when the grains were cooked with lime. The reduction in lysine digestibility observed in the lime treated groups accounted for significant differences observed in nitrogen(N) retained/N absorbed. The rat feeding experiment evaluated the effect of tortilla processing on nutrient digestibilities and performance. Dry matter and GED were increased (P 0.05) trend was observed when raw WS was compared with WS nixtamal and tortilla. Among the three different in vitro procedures, the multiple enzyme assay predicted and correlated better with the in vivo CPD results obtained with rats. The nutritional values of sorghum tortillas and related lime-cooked products were quite comparable with similar MZ foods. Sorghum can be substituted for part or all of the MZ without adversely affecting the nutritional level for the consumers. Pearled sorghum has good nutrient digestibility but less protein and lysine content, so its nutritional value when fed alone is poor. However, in a fortified diet, PS would be digested equal or better than MZ
