Effects of Germination on the Bioactive Compounds and the Flour Physicochemical Properties of Sorghum Grains

Xuan Wei Zhou; Jia Yi Yang; Zhi Jian Guo; Liu Yan

Abstract

Sorghum, being used as a staple food with many kinds of bioactive compounds, is one of the four types of used cereal around the world. Sorghum is also an important raw material for the food industry, such as a brewing material. Germination can lead to a change of bioactive compounds, and then change the biological activities and flour physicochemical properties of sorghum grains. This review aims to analyze and summarize the effects of bioactive compounds and the flour physicochemical properties of sorghum grains. Germination reduces the total starches, proteins, and lipid substances, but increases the amino acid and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) content of sorghum grains. There is no consensus on the variation of polyphenol quantity and other nutrition such as vitamins. Germination also affects the related physicochemical properties of flour, such as pasting properties, water-holding capacity, oil-holding capacity, emulsibility, foaming and antioxidant capacity of starch, which influencethe flavor and processing of the products. Therefore, it is recommended for using sorghum food processing. The germinating process can increase the nutritive and nutraceutical quality, which should be potentially used for the processing of food or health products.

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