Location: Grain Quality and Structure Research
Project Number: 3020-43440-002-025-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Aug 1, 2021
End Date: Jul 31, 2025
Objective:
The objective is to investigate the inter-relationships between sorghum grain composition, fermentation approaches, and application quality of co-products.
Approach:
Experiments will be conducted to investigate how sorghum grain properties such as starch and amylose contents and structure features affect the fermentation process (viscosity of fermentation mash/broth, ethanol yields etc.) and quality and application features of co-products. Experiments will first focus on developing and optimizing quick methods for screening sorghum lines for starch and amylose contents and viscosity. Molecular structural features of starch (amylopectin and amylose) of selected sorghum samples will be determined using standard analytical procedures. Different fermentation approaches (conventional and native starch hydrolysis) will be applied to a selected set of sorghum samples and evaluated for fermentation efficiency and co-product quality. Results from this study may help to establish quick method to evaluate sorghum grain quality and suitable fermentation process as well as co-product quality and applications. This will support adding values to the sorghum crop and expand its application in the food industry.
