ABSTRACT
Sorghum is an important crop for food and fodder in the semi-arid tropics of the world. Sorghum is a staple food in Africa and Asia. Most of the grain produced in these countries is utilized for human consumption. Though sorghum is known for its nutritional quality, the consumption of this cereal is decreasing due to the non-availability of ready-to -eat and ready-to-cook products on the market. Most commonly followed conventional processing methodologies are milling, including decortication, and size gradation, popping, malting, and fermentation. Research has been initiated to diversify the utilization of sorghum, through modification of grain types and development of processing technologies to provide grains and products that are appealing to the consumers who prefer the white, refined, modern cereals (maize, wheat, and rice). This chapter presents the grain structure, nutritional composition, and processing methods such as milling, extrusion, flaking, puffing, popping, and baking of sorghum, which was developed by the Indian Institute of Millets Research (IIMR) especially for sorghum grain and prepared good quality of sorghum processed products like multigrain atta, semolina, flakes, extruded products (vermicelli and pasta), biscuits, and convenience foods to improve the nutritional quality, as well as the consumer acceptability of sorghum with improved shelf life.
