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Effect of Moisture Content and Tempering Method on the Functional and Sensory Properties of Popped Sorghum¹

¹Published with the approval of the director of the Agricultural Experiment Station, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK. ²Graduate research assistant and professor, respectively, Robert M. Kerr Food & Agricultural Products Center, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK 74078-6055. ³Present address: MGP Ingredients, Atchison, KS 66002. ⁴Corresponding author. E-mail: pat.rayas_duarte@okstate.edu

Red and white sorghum were tempered using two methods (direct and indirect) to adjust moisture content (MC) to 12, 14, and 17% and popped using a hot-air popper. Kernel size, pericarp thickness, bulk density, popped kernel expansion volume and ratio, popped volume, and surface color were recorded. Forty-six untrained panelists evaluated popped sorghum using a 9-point hedonic scale and expressed preference using a paired comparison test. Sorghum with thicker pericarp (red) had higher percent popped, expansion ratio, and popped volume. In white sorghum, indirect tempering increased percent popped and tempering to 17% MC increased popped volume. Panelists significantly preferred popcorn in appearance (8.0 ± 1.0) and size (7.9 ± 1.0) to sorghum (6.6 ± 1.7 appearance and 5.6 ± 2.2 size for 12 and 17% MC tempering). Panelists equally preferred the taste of popcorn (7.1 ± 1.5) and popped sorghum tempered to 12% MC (6.4 ± 1.8) and 17% MC (6.9 ± 1.4). Sorghum pops were brighter, vividly whiter, and 5× smaller than popcorn.