Effect of malting and fermentation on the functional and health-promoting properties of red and white sorghum cultivars.

My research seeks to enhance the health-promoting properties of sorghum porridge using traditional food processes such as malting and fermentation. Sorghum is a climate-smart cereal crop considered a basic staple food in many African countries. This cereal crop contains bioactive compounds such as phenolic compounds which through their antioxidant properties, are proven to offer protection against non-communicable diseases. In grains, these bioactive compounds are naturally bound or crosslinked to cell wall polysaccharides. Now, the problem remains as to how to release these bound phenolic compounds from the food matrix (referred to as bioaccessibility) for proper absorption. During malting and fermentation, numerous hydrolytic enzymes are activated which break down sorghum cell walls and release bound phenolic compounds. So, these traditional food processes have the potential to render phenolic compounds in sorghum more bioaccessible for increased health effects after absorption.