Cereal Chem 65:165-170   |  VIEW ARTICLE

Characterization of Colored-Grain Sorghum Lines and Identification of High-Tannin Lines with Good Dehulling Characteristics.

R. D. Reichert, M. A. Mwasaru, and S. Z. Mukuru. Copyright 1988 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Colored-grain sorghum lines were characterized with the objective of identifying lines with a high tannin content and good dehulling quality. Physical and chemical analysis of grain from 1,768 lines showed a wide variation in tannin (0-11.8%), abrasive hardness index (2.5-21.3 sec), weight (1.0-7.8 g/100 seeds), shape, and color. The majority (85%) of the lines had tannin contents of 5% or less. Five lines with greater than 10% tannin were identified. High-tannin (greater than 1%) lines were generally slightly softer than low- tannin (less than 1%) colored-grain lines and much softer than noncolored lines. However, six high-tannin lines with hardness exceeding the mean of 21 noncolored lines were identified. Seventy percent of lines had a seed weight in the range of 1.0-3.0 g/100 seeds, and most had flat kernels. Twenty-four color classes could be visually distinguished. Generally, the lines within each color class varied widely in tannin content and hardness. Several light-colored lines were identified that lacked a spreader gene but contained high levels of tannin. Low but significant correlations were observed among many of the physical and chemical properties of the lines. Several high-tannin lines were identified that could be dehulled with flour extraction levels of at least 70% to produce flour low in tannin and acceptable in color.