Abstract
Total energy, protein content and digestibility, antinutritional factors, and total and extractable minerals of normal sorghum (Type II) and four newly developed lines of sorghum (Eri-1, SHK-ABA-4, SHK-ABA-6 and SHK-ABA-10.) were studied before and after fermentation. Phytic acid and Tanin contents of raw flour of the normal sorghum were, respectively, 41.73 mg 100 g(-1) and 170.54 mg 100 g(-1), while the same values for the four lines ranged from 16.07 to 38.64 mg 100 g(-1) and from 31.90 to 184.25 mg 100 g(-1), respectively. Polyphenols content of raw flour of the normal sorghum was 604.56 mg 100 g(-1), exceeding the values found for the four lines in the range of 476.46 to 544.44 mg 100 g(-1). According to our results, fermentation of normal sorghum flour and that of the new lines significantly (P <= 0.05) decreased the antinutritional factors i.e. phytate, tannins, and polyphenols. The total energy of raw flour of the normal sorghum was 369.87 Kcal 100 g(-1) while it ranged from 367.23 to 372.57 Kcal 100 g(-1) for the new lines. In all cases, this energy slightly decreased after fermentation. Protein digestibility of normal sorghum was 22.60% and, for the new lines, it ranged from 37.00 to 57.19%. After fermentation, protein digestibility and the total and extractable Ca, P, and Fe increased significantly (P <= 0.05) for all genotypes studied.