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Effects of Sorghum Cultivar on Injera Quality

¹Food Science Research Division, Melkassa Agricultural Research Center, P.O. Box 436, Melkassa, Ethiopia. ²Department of Food Science, University of Pretoria, Pretoria 0002, South Africa. ³Cereal Quality Laboratory, Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX 77843-2474. ⁴Corresponding author. Phone: +27 12 420 4296. Fax +27 12 420 2839. E-mail: jtaylor@postino.up.ac.za

Injera is an Ethiopian flat bread made from cereals, with tef preferred for the best quality injera. Because sorghum is less expensive in Ethiopia, there is great interest in improving the quality of sorghum injera. Effects of cultivar on injera quality were studied using 12 Ethiopian sorghum cultivars of varying kernel characteristics. White tef with good injera making quality was included as a reference. Injera quality was evaluated using two techniques: descriptive sensory analysis of fresh injera and instrumental texture analysis of injera stored over a storage period of 48 hr using a three-point bending rig. Principal component analysis (PCA) of sensory data associated fresh injera from sorghum cultivars 3443-2-op, 76TI #23, and PGRC/E #69349 of varying endosperm texture, with positive injera texture attributes of softness, rollability, and fluffiness. Across the two seasons, texture analysis showed injera prepared from AW and CR:35:5, both with soft endosperm, required the least force to bend after 48 hr of storage. Bending force was negatively correlated with softness (r = -0.63, P < 0.05) and positively with grittiness (r = 0.75, P < 0.01) after 48 hr of storage. Sorghum cultivar has an influence on both injera making and keeping qualities.