article · Food Science & Nutrition
Sorghum serves as a staple cereal in parts of Ethiopia, but antinutritional factors frequently hinder protein digestion and mineral absorption. An evaluation of premilling techniques, including washing, soaking, and malting, on the improved Assosa I sorghum variety showed clear nutritional advantages. Malting significantly increased crude fibre, utilizable carbohydrates, gross energy, and sodium content. Premilling treatments also substantially decreased antinutritional factors, reducing tannins from 55.81 to 27.4 mg/100 g, phytates from 156.15 to 70.50 mg/100 g, and oxalates from 29.9 to 3.22 mg/100 g. These treatments significantly improved in vitro mineral bioavailability relative to unprocessed grain, with malting achieving the greatest reduction in antinutritional compounds and superior mineral bioavailability. Flour derived from germinated grain can consequently be blended with other nutrient-dense foods to enrich diets for young children and lactating mothers.
Sorghum is a critical food staple, yet naturally occurring antinutrients limit how well the body digests protein and absorbs essential minerals. Establishing that simple premilling interventions, especially malting, markedly lower these inhibitory compounds and improve mineral uptake provides accessible food preparation techniques. This has direct value for improving the dietary quality of vulnerable groups, including young children and lactating mothers.
This applied research indicates practical relevance for grain millers, food manufacturers, and public nutrition programmes targeting maternal and child health. The findings show that malting can be employed to create nutrient-dense composite flours. The work represents an applied and laboratory-tested stage of development, requiring pilot-scale processing and formal recipe optimisation before full commercial integration into manufactured food products.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
Abstract Sorghum ( Sorghum bicolor L.) is among the staple cereal crops in different parts of Ethiopia. However, the presence of antinutritional factors restricts the digestion of proteins and bioavailability different minerals. Therefore, this study investigates the premilling treatments effects on nutritional composition, antinutritional factors, and in vitro mineral bioavailability of the improved Assosa I sorghum variety grown in Benishangul‐Gumuz Region, Ethiopia. The experiment was conducted in a completely randomized design with single factor of premilling treatments (control, washing, soaking, and malting). Among evaluated premilling treatments, malting showed significant ( p < .05) increase in terms of crude fiber, utilizable carbohydrate, gross energy, and sodium contents. As compared to the raw sorghum, premilling treatments reduced antinutritional contents from 55.81 to 27.4 mg/100 g for tannin, 156.15 to 70.50 mg/100 g for phytates, and 29.9 to 3.22 mg/100 g for oxalate. The premilling techniques also significantly ( p < .05) improved in vitro mineral bioavailability as compared to unprocessed sorghum grains. Among the premilling treatments, malting showed significant difference ( p < .05) in terms of reduction of tannins, phytates, and oxalate contents with relatively higher mineral bioavailability. In order to enhance the food and nutritional value of sorghum particularly for children and lactating mothers, it is recommended to germinated the grains. Flour from germinated grain also can be used in combination with other nutrient‐dense foods to formulate healthy diets for children and maternal nutrition.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.1002/fsn3.2155
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
