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Content and Composition of Nonstarchy Polysaccharides in Endosperms of Sorghum Varying in Hardness During Four Developmental Stages

¹Present address: Whistler Center for Carbohydrate Research, Smith Hall, Purdue University, W. Lafayette, IN 47907-1160. ²Department of Grain Science and Technology, Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore-570013, India. Corresponding author.

Estimates of nonstarchy polysaccharide (NSP) contents and compositions are reported for flours from three sorghum cultivars varying in hardness at four developmental stages. Samples were collected at 21, 28, 35, and 42 days after anthesis (DAA),. The total NSP content in flour appeared to increase slightly from 21 to 35 DAA and then level off or decrease slightly for all three cultivars. Gas liquid chromatography analysis of the water-insoluble NSP fraction revealed that the pentose content decreased and hexose content increased as the grain matured. The soft and intermediate cultivars contained higher contents of NSP than did the hard cultivar at all the four stages of development studied. Also, the pentose content was higher than the hexose content in the water-insoluble NSP fraction of soft sorghum endosperm when compared to the hard sorghum endosperm.