One species, Sorghum bicolor,[7] native to Africa with many cultivated forms,[8] is an important crop worldwide, used for food (as grain and in sorghum syrup or "sorghum molasses"), animal fodder, the production of alcoholic beverages, and biofuels. Sorghum's cultivation has been linked by archeological research back to ancient Sudan around 6,000 to 7,000 BP.[9]
All sorghums contain phenolic acids, and most contain flavonoids.[10] Sorghum grains are one of the highest food sources of the flavonoidproanthocyanidin.[11] Total phenol content (in both phenolic acids and flavonoids) is correlated with antioxidant activity.[10] Antioxidant activity is high in sorghums having dark pericarp and pigmented testa.[10] The antioxidant activity of sorghum may explain the reduced incidence of certain cancers in populations consuming sorghum.[10]
Popped sorghum is popular as a snack in India. The popped sorghum is similar to popcorn, but the puffs are smaller.[12] Recipes for popping sorghum by microwave, in a pot, etc., are readily available online.[13][12]
In China, sorghum flour is used in combination with wheat flour to make noodles and breads.[14]
Most varieties are drought- and heat-tolerant, nitrogen-efficient,[15] and are especially important in arid and semi-arid regions, where the grain is one of the staples for poor and rural people. These varieties form important components of forage in many tropical regions. S. bicolor is an important food crop in Africa, Central America, and South Asia, and is the 5th most important cereal crop grown in the world.[16][17]
In the early stages of the plants' growth, some species of sorghum can contain levels of hydrogen cyanide, hordenine, and nitrates, which are lethal to grazing animals. When stressed by drought or heat, plants can also contain toxic levels of cyanide and nitrates at later stages in growth.[18][19]
Role in global economy
Global demand for sorghum increased dramatically between 2013 and 2015, when China began purchasing US sorghum crops to use as livestock feed as a substitute for domestically grown corn. China purchased around $1 billion worth of American sorghum per year until April 2018, when China imposed retaliatory duties on American sorghum as part of the trade war between the two countries.[20]
Sorghum arundinaceum – Africa, Indian Subcontinent, Madagascar, islands of the western Indian Ocean
Sorghum bicolor – cultivated sorghum, often individually called sorghum, also known as durra, jowari, or milo. Native to Sahel region of Africa; naturalized in many places
Sorghum brachypodum – Northern Territory of Australia
Sorghum bulbosum – Northern Territory, Western Australia
Sorghum ecarinatum – Northern Territory, Western Australia
Sorghum exstans – Northern Territory of Australia
Sorghum grande – Northern Territory, Queensland
Sorghum halepense – Johnson grass – North Africa, islands of eastern Atlantic, southern Asia from Lebanon to Vietnam; naturalized in East Asia, Australia, the Americas
Sorghum interjectum – Northern Territory, Western Australia
^"Sorghum". County-level distribution maps from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
^Stefan Hauser, Lydia Wairegi, Charles L. A. Asadu, Damian O. Asawalam, Grace Jokthan, Utiang Ugbe (2015). "Sorghum- and millet-legume cropping systems"(PDF). CABI and Africa Soil Health Consortium. Retrieved 7 October 2018.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
^Carney, Judith (2009). In the Shadow of Slavery. Berkeley and Los Angeles, California: University of California Press. p. 16. ISBN9780520269965.
^"The Plant List: Sorghum". Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and Missouri Botanic Garden. 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
Further reading
Watson, Andrew M. (1983). Agricultural Innovation in the Early Islamic World: The Diffusion of Crops and Farming Techniques, 700–1100. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-24711-X.
