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Sorghum bicolor, commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a species in the Poaceae genus Sorghum cultivated for its grain. The grain is used as food by humans, while the plant is used for animal feed and ethanol production. Sorghum originated in Africa, and is widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions.
Sorghum is the world's fifth-most important cereal crop after rice, wheat, maize, and barley. Sorghum is typically an annual, but some cultivars are perennial. It grows in clumps that may reach over high. The grain is small, in diameter. are cultivars grown for forage, syrup production, and ethanol. They are taller than those grown for grain.
The first race to be domesticated was bicolor; it had tight husks that had to be removed forcibly. Around 4,000 years ago, this spread to the Indian subcontinent; around 3,000 years ago it reached West Africa. Four other races evolved through cultivation to have larger grains and to become free-threshing, making harvests easier and more productive. These were caudatum in the Sahel; durra, most likely in India; guinea in West Africa (later reaching India), and from that race mageritiferum that gave rise to the varieties of Southern Africa. (2025). 9783319898384, Springer International Publishing. ISBN 9783319898384
Tall varieties of sorghum with a high sugar content are called sweet sorghum; these are useful for producing a sugar-rich syrup and as forage. Sweet sorghum was important to the sugar trade in the 19th century. The price of sugar was rising because of decreased production in the British West Indies and more demand for confectionery and fruit preserves, and the United States was actively searching for a sugar plant that could be produced in northern states. The "Chinese sugar-cane", sweet sorghum, was viewed as a plant that would be productive in the West Indies.
Sorghum grows in a wide range of temperatures. It can tolerate high altitude and toxic soils, and can recover growth after some drought. Optimum growth temperature range is , and the growing season lasts for around 115–140 days. It can grow in a wide range of soils, such as heavy clay to sandy soils with the pH tolerance ranging from 5.0 to 8.5. It requires an arable field that has been left fallow for at least two years or where crop rotation with legumes has taken place in the previous year. Diversified 2- or 4-year crop rotation can improve sorghum yield, making it more resilient to inconsistent growth conditions. Nutrients required by sorghum are comparable to other cereal grain crops with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium needed for growth.
The International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics has improved sorghum using traditional genetic improvement and integrated genetic and natural resources management practices. Some 194 improved cultivars are planted worldwide. In India, increases in sorghum productivity resulting from improved cultivars have freed up of land, enabling farmers to diversify into high-income cash crops and boost their livelihoods. Sorghum is used primarily as poultry feed, and also as cattle feed and in brewing.
Paterson et al., 2009 provides a genome assembly of 739 megabase. The most commonly used genome database is maintained by Luo et al., 2016. A gene expression atlas is available from Shakoor et al., 2014 with 27,577 . For molecular breeding (or other purposes) an SNP array has been created by Bekele et al., 2013, a 3K SNP Infinium from Illumina, Inc.
Agrobacterium transformation can be used on sorghum, as shown in a 2018 report of such a transformation system. A 2013 study developed and validated an SNP array for molecular breeding.
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| 4.8 | |
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| Source: FAOSTAT of the United Nations | |
In 2021, world production of sorghum was 61 million , led by the United States with 19% of the total (table). India, Ethiopia, and Mexico were the largest secondary producers.
Sorghum grain is 72% including 7% dietary fiber, 11% protein, 3% fat, and 12% water (table). In a reference amount of , sorghum grain supplies 79 and rich contents (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of several B vitamins and dietary minerals (table).
In the early stages of plant growth, some sorghum species may contain levels of hydrogen cyanide, hordenine, and lethal to grazing animals. Plants stressed by drought or heat can also contain toxic levels of cyanide and nitrates at later stages in growth.
In South Africa, characteristically sour Millet beer is made from sorghum or millet. The process involves souring the Mashing with lactic acid bacteria, followed by fermenting by the wild yeasts that were on the grain. In China and Taiwan, sorghum is one of the main materials of Kaoliang liquor, a type of the colourless distilled alcoholic drink baijiu.
In countries including the US, the stalks of sweet sorghum varieties are crushed in a cane juicer to extract the sweet molasses-like juice. The juice is sold as syrup,Bitzer, Morris. Sweet Sorghum for Syrup. Publication. N.p.: U of Kentucky, 2002. Web. 22 May 2014.
In India, the panicle stalks are used as bristles for .
Sorghum seeds and bagasse have the potential to produce lactic acid via fermentation which can be used to make polylactic acid, a biodegradable thermoplastic resin.
In Korea, the origin tale "Brother and sister who became the Sun and Moon" is also called "The reason sorghum is red". In the tale, a tiger who is chasing a brother and sister follows them up a rotten rope as they climb into the sky, and become the sun and moon. The rope breaks, and the tiger falls to its death, impaling itself on a sorghum stalk, which becomes red with its blood.
In Northeastern Italy in the early modern period, sticks of sorghum were used by Benandanti visionaries of the Friuli district to fight off witches who were thought to threaten crops and people.
Biofuel
Sorghum can be used to produce ethanol fuel as an alternative to maize. The energy ratio for the production of ethanol is similar to that of sugarcane, and much higher than that of maize. Extracted carbohydrates can readily be Fermentation into ethanol because of their simple sugar structure. Residuals contain enough energy to power the ethanol processing facilities used to produce the fuel.
/ref> transport and processing costs) are competitive with maize, while sorghum has a lower nitrogen fertilizer requirement than maize.
To turn it into fuel ethanol, sorghum juice is concentrated into syrup for long term storage, then fermented in a batch fermentation process.
Other uses
In Nigeria, the pulverized red leaf-sheaths of sorghum have been used to dye leather, while in Algeria, sorghum has been used to dye wool.
In human culture
In Australia, sorghum is personified as a spirit among the Dagoman people of Northern Territory, as well as being used for food; the local species are Sorghum intrans and Sorghum plumosum.
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