Sorghum is either cultivated in warm climates worldwide or naturalized in open plains.[3] In 2021, world production of sorghum was 61 million tonnes, with the United States as the leading grower.
History
Sorghum was domesticated from its wild ancestor more than 5,000 years ago in what is today Sudan. The newest evidence comes from an archaeological site near Kassala in eastern Sudan, dating from 3500 to 3000 BC, and is associated with the neolithic Butana Group culture.[4] It was the staple food of the kingdom of Alodia.[5]
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
In 2021, world production of sorghum was 61 million tonnes, led by the United States with 19% of the total (table). India, Ethiopia, and Mexico were secondary producers.
In the early stages of plant growth, some sorghum species may contain levels of hydrogen cyanide, hordenine, and nitrates lethal to grazing animals.[19] Plants stressed by drought or heat can also contain toxic levels of cyanide and nitrates at later stages in growth.[20]
Nutrition
The grain is edible and nutritious. It can be eaten raw when young and milky, but has to be boiled or ground into flour when mature.[21]
Sorghum grain is 72% carbohydrates including 7% dietary fiber, 11% protein, 3% fat, and 12% water (table). In a reference amount of 100 grams (3.5 oz), sorghum grain supplies 79 calories and rich contents (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of several B vitamins and dietary minerals (table).
Use
Sorghum cultivation has been linked by archeological research to ancient Sudan around 6,000 to 7,000 BP.[22] One species, S. bicolor,[23] native to Africa with many cultivated forms,[24] is a common crop worldwide, used for food (in the form of grain or sorghum syrup), animal fodder, the production of alcoholic beverages, and biofuels.
In Nigeria, the pulverized red leaf-sheaths of sorghum have been used to dye leather, and in Algeria, sorghum has been used to dye wool.[25]
Most varieties of sorghum are drought- and heat-tolerant, nitrogen-efficient,[28] and are grown particularly in arid and semi-arid regions where the grain is one of the staples for poor and rural people. These varieties are forage in many tropical regions. S. bicolor is a food crop in Africa, Central America, and South Asia, and is the fifth most common cereal crop grown in the world.[29][30]
International trade
In 2013, China began purchasing US sorghum as a complementary livestock feed to domestically grown maize. It imported around $1 billion worth per year until April 2018, when it imposed retaliatory tariffs as part of the trade war.[31] By 2020, the tariffs have been waived, and trade volumes increased again[32] before declining again as China began buying sorghum from other countries.[33] As of 2020, China is the world's largest sorghum importer, importing more than all other countries combined.[32]
^"Sorghum". County-level distribution maps from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
^Dillon, Sally L.; Lawrence, Peter K.; Henry, Robert J.; Ross, Larry; Price, H. James; Johnston, J. Spencer (2004). "Sorghum laxiflorum and S. macrospermum, the Australian native species most closely related to the cultivated S. bicolor based on ITS1 and ndhF sequence analysis of 28 Sorghum species". Plant Systematics and Evolution. 249 (3–4): 233–246. doi:10.1007/s00606-004-0210-7. eISSN1615-6110. ISSN0378-2697. S2CID27363366.
^National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium (2019). Oria, Maria; Harrison, Meghan; Stallings, Virginia A. (eds.). Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. The National Academies Collection: Reports funded by National Institutes of Health. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US). ISBN978-0-309-48834-1. PMID30844154.((cite book)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^"Sorghum". Victoria, Australia: Agriculture Victoria. Archived from the original on 2 October 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
^Hauser, Stefan; Wairegi, Lydia; Asadu, Charles L. A.; Asawalam, Damian O.; Jokthan, Grace; Ugbe, Utiang (2015). "Sorghum- and millet-legume cropping systems"(PDF). Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International and Africa Soil Health Consortium. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
^Luca, Simon Vlad; Macovei, Irina; Bujor, Alexandra; et al. (2020). "Bioactivity of dietary polyphenols: The role of metabolites". Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. 60 (4): 626–659. doi:10.1080/10408398.2018.1546669. PMID30614249. S2CID58651581.
Watson, Andrew M. (1983). Agricultural Innovation in the Early Islamic World: The Diffusion of Crops and Farming Techniques, 700–1100. Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-24711-X.
