Sorghum
| Sorghum | |
|---|---|
| |
| S. bicolor | |
Scientific classification 
| |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| Clade: | Tracheophytes |
| Clade: | Angiosperms |
| Clade: | Monocots |
| Clade: | Commelinids |
| Order: | Poales |
| Family: | Poaceae |
| Subfamily: | Panicoideae |
| Supertribe: | Andropogonodae |
| Tribe: | Andropogoneae |
| Subtribe: | Saccharinae |
| Genus: | Sorghum Moench 1794, conserved name not Sorgum Adanson 1763 |
| Type species | |
| S. bicolor | |
| Synonyms[1] | |
| |
Sorghum (/ˈsɔːrɡəm/) or broomcorn is a genus of about 25 species of flowering plants in the grass family (Poaceae). Sorghum bicolor and some other species are grown as cereals for human consumption and as animal fodder.
Sorghum grain is a nutritious food rich in protein, dietary fiber, B vitamins, and minerals. Sorghum is cultivated in warm climates worldwide. In 2021, world production of sorghum was 61 million tonnes, with the United States as the leading grower. It is the world's fifth most important crop by tonnage produced.
Description[edit]
Sorghum is a large stout grass that grows up to 2.4 metres (7.9 ft) tall. It has large bushy flowerheads or panicles that provide an edible starchy grain with up to 3,000 seeds in each flowerhead. It grows in warm climates worldwide.[2][3] One species, S. bicolor, is grown worldwide in large quantities for food and forage.[4] native to Africa with many cultivated forms.[5] Seventeen of the 25 species are native to Australia,[6][7][8] with the range of some extending to Africa, Asia, Mesoamerica, and certain islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.[9][10]
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Botanical illustration of Sorghum bicolor or great millet, one of some 25 species in the Sorghum genus
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S. bicolor with maturing panicles of grain, Germany
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Ripe panicle of S. bicolor, India
Evolution[edit]
Phylogeny[edit]
Sorghum is closely related to maize within the PACMAD clade of grasses, and more distantly to the cereals of the BOP clade such as wheat and barley.[11]
| (Part of Poaceae) |
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Domestication[edit]
S. bicolor was domesticated from its wild ancestor more than 5,000 years ago in Eastern Sudan in the area of the Rivers Atbara and Gash.[12][13] It has been found at an archaeological site near Kassala in eastern Sudan, dating from 3500 to 3000 BC, and is associated with the neolithic Butana Group culture.[14]
The first race to be domesticated was bicolor; it had tight husks that had to be removed forcibly. Around 4,000 years ago, this spread to the Indian subcontinent; around 3,000 years ago it reached West Africa.[12] Four other races evolved through cultivation to have larger grains and to become free-threshing, making harvests easier and more productive. These were caudatum in the Sahel; durra, most likely in India; guinea in West Africa (later reaching India), and from that race mageritiferum that gave rise to the varieties of Southern Africa.[12]
Taxonomy[edit]
Sorghum is in the grass family, Poaceae, in the subfamily Panicoideae, in the tribe Andropogoneae – the same as maize (Zea mays), big bluestem (Andropogon gerardi), and sugarcane (Saccharum spp.).
Accepted species recorded include:[15]
- Sorghum amplum – northwestern Australia
- Sorghum angustum – Queensland
- Sorghum arundinaceum – Africa, Indian Subcontinent, Madagascar, islands of the western Indian Ocean
- Sorghum bicolor – cultivated sorghum, often individually called sorghum, also known as durra, jowari, or milo. Native to Sahel region of Africa; naturalized in many places
- Sorghum brachypodum – Northern Territory of Australia
- Sorghum bulbosum – Northern Territory, Western Australia
- Sorghum burmahicum – Thailand, Myanmar
- Sorghum controversum – India
- Sorghum × drummondii – Sahel and West Africa
- Sorghum ecarinatum – Northern Territory, Western Australia
- Sorghum exstans – Northern Territory of Australia
- Sorghum grande – Northern Territory, Queensland
- Sorghum halepense – Johnson grass – North Africa, islands of eastern Atlantic, southern Asia from Lebanon to Vietnam; naturalized in East Asia, Australia, the Americas
- Sorghum interjectum – Northern Territory, Western Australia
- Sorghum intrans – Northern Territory, Western Australia
- Sorghum laxiflorum – Philippines, Lesser Sunda Islands, Sulawesi, New Guinea, northern Australia
- Sorghum leiocladum – Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria
- Sorghum macrospermum – Northern Territory of Australia
- Sorghum matarankense – Northern Territory, Western Australia
- Sorghum nitidum – East Asia, Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Micronesia
- Sorghum plumosum – Australia, New Guinea, Indonesia
- Sorghum propinquum – China, Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Christmas Island, Micronesia, Cook Islands
- Sorghum purpureosericeum – Sahel from Mali to Tanzania; Yemen, Oman, India
- Sorghum stipoideum – Northern Territory, Western Australia
- Sorghum timorense – Lesser Sunda Islands, Maluku, New Guinea, northern Australia
- Sorghum trichocladum – Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras
- Sorghum versicolor – eastern + southern Africa from Ethiopia to Namibia; Oman
- Sorghum virgatum – dry regions from Senegal to the Levant.
Genetics and genomics[edit]
Agrobacterium transformation can be used on this genus, as shown in a 2018 report of such a transformation system.[16] A 2013 study developed and validated an SNP array for molecular breeding.[17][18]
Nutrition[edit]
| Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz) | |
|---|---|
| Energy | 329 kJ (79 kcal) |
72.1 g | |
| Sugars | 2.53 g |
| Dietary fiber | 6.7 g |
3.46 g | |
| Saturated | 0.61 g |
| Monounsaturated | 1.13 g |
| Polyunsaturated | 1.56 g |
10.6 g | |
| Vitamins | Quantity %DV† |
| Vitamin A equiv. | 0% 0 μg |
| Thiamine (B1) | 28% 0.332 mg |
| Riboflavin (B2) | 7% 0.096 mg |
| Niacin (B3) | 23% 3.69 mg |
| Pantothenic acid (B5) | 7% 0.367 mg |
| Vitamin B6 | 26% 0.443 mg |
| Folate (B9) | 5% 20 μg |
| Vitamin C | 0% 0 mg |
| Vitamin E | 3% 0.5 mg |
| Minerals | Quantity %DV† |
| Calcium | 1% 13 mg |
| Copper | 32% 0.284 mg |
| Iron | 19% 3.36 mg |
| Magnesium | 39% 165 mg |
| Manganese | 70% 1.6 mg |
| Phosphorus | 23% 289 mg |
| Potassium | 12% 363 mg |
| Selenium | 22% 12.2 μg |
| Sodium | 0% 2 mg |
| Zinc | 15% 1.67 mg |
| Other constituents | Quantity |
| Water | 12.4 g |
| †Percentages estimated using US recommendations for adults,[19] except for potassium, which is estimated based on expert recommendation from the National Academies.[20] | |
The grain is edible and nutritious. It can be eaten raw when young and milky, but has to be boiled or ground into flour when mature.[21]
Sorghum grain is 72% carbohydrates including 7% dietary fiber, 11% protein, 3% fat, and 12% water (table). In a reference amount of 100 grams (3.5 oz), sorghum grain supplies 79 calories and rich contents (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV) of several B vitamins and dietary minerals (table).
In the early stages of plant growth, some sorghum species may contain levels of hydrogen cyanide, hordenine, and nitrates lethal to grazing animals.[22] Plants stressed by drought or heat can also contain toxic levels of cyanide and nitrates at later stages in growth.[23]
Use[edit]
S. bicolor is widely used for food and animal fodder. It is also used to make alcoholic beverages, and biofuels such as ethanol.[3]
In Nigeria, the pulverized red leaf-sheaths of sorghum have been used to dye leather, while in Algeria, sorghum has been used to dye wool.[24]
In India, the panicle stalks are used as bristles for brooms.[25]
In countries including the US, the stalks of sweet sorghum varieties are crushed in a cane juicer to extract the sweet molasses-like juice. The juice is sold as syrup,[26][27][28] and used as a feedstock to make biofuel.[29]
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Sorghum dough in a gourd bowl of the Didinga people of South Sudan, 2024
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Sorghum forage, Maharashtra, India, 2016
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Brooms made of panicle stalks
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A horse-driven sorghum cane juicer being used to extract the sweet juice in North Carolina, 2010
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A jar of sweet sorghum syrup
Cultivation[edit]
Most varieties of sorghum are drought- and heat-tolerant, nitrogen-efficient,[30] and are grown particularly in arid and semi-arid regions where the grain is one of the staples for poor and rural people. These varieties provide forage in many tropical regions. S. bicolor is a food crop in Africa, Central America, and South Asia, and is the fifth most common cereal crop grown in the world.[31][32]
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Sorghum harvest at the shore of Lake Hayq, Ethiopia, 2012
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A woman threshing sorghum In Northern Ghana, 2021
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Harvesting sorghum in Oklahoma, USA, with a combine harvester
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Drying sorghum in the open air, Uganda, 2020
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Women drying sorghum seeds by tossing them in trays, 2022
Pests and diseases[edit]
Stored sorghum grain is attacked by insect pests such as the lesser grain borer beetle.[33]
Sorghum is subject to a variety of plant pathogens. The fungus Colletotrichum sublineolum causes anthracnose.[34]
The toxic ergot fungus parasitises the grain, risking harm to humans and livestock.[35]
-
The lesser grain borer is a serious pest of sorghum.
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Acervuli of Colletotrichum sublineolum, the cause of anthracnose, on sweet sorghum
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Sorghum leaves showing anthracnose damage
Production[edit]
| Sorghum production – 2021 | |
|---|---|
| Country | (Millions of tonnes) |
 United States |
11.4 |
 India |
4.8 |
 Ethiopia |
4.4 |
 Mexico |
4.4 |
 Argentina |
3.3 |
 China |
3.0 |
| World | 61.4 |
| Source: FAOSTAT of the United Nations[36] | |
In 2021, world production of sorghum was 61 million tonnes, led by the United States with 19% of the total (table). India, Ethiopia, and Mexico were the largest secondary producers.[36]
International trade[edit]
In 2013, China began purchasing American sorghum as a complementary livestock feed to its domestically grown maize. It imported around $1 billion worth per year until April 2018, when it imposed retaliatory tariffs as part of a trade war.[37] By 2020, the tariffs have been waived, and trade volumes increased again[38] before declining again as China began buying sorghum from other countries.[39] As of 2020, China is the world's largest sorghum importer, importing more than all other countries combined.[38]
In human culture[edit]
In Australia, sorghum is personified as a spirit among the Dagoman people of Northern Territory, as well as being used for food; the local species are S. intrans and S. plumosum.[40]
In Korea, the origin tale "Brother and sister who became the Sun and Moon" is also called "The reason sorghum is red".[41] In the tale, a tiger who is chasing a brother and sister follows them up a rotten rope as they climb into the sky, and become the sun and moon. The rope breaks, and the tiger falls to its death, impaling itself on a sorghum stalk, which becomes red with its blood.[42]
In Northeastern Italy in the early modern period, sticks of sorghum were used by Benandanti visionaries of the Friuli district to fight off witches who were thought to threaten crops and people.[43]
References[edit]
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- ^ "Sorghum". County-level distribution maps from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
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- ^ Mutegi, Evans; Sagnard, Fabrice; Muraya, Moses; et al. (1 February 2010). "Ecogeographical distribution of wild, weedy and cultivated Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench in Kenya: implications for conservation and crop-to-wild gene flow" (PDF). Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. 57 (2): 243–253. doi:10.1007/s10722-009-9466-7. S2CID 28318220.
- ^ Hauser, Stefan; Wairegi, Lydia; Asadu, Charles L.A.; Asawalam, Damian O.; Jokthan, Grace; Ugbe, Utiang (2015). "Sorghum- and millet-legume cropping systems" (PDF). Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International and Africa Soil Health Consortium. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
- ^ Henry, Robert; Furtado, Agnelo; Brozynska, Marta (2016). "Genomics of crop wild relatives: expanding the gene pool for crop improvement". Plant Biotechnology Journal. 14 (4): 1070–85. doi:10.1111/pbi.12454. eISSN 1467-7652. ISSN 1467-7644. PMID 26311018. S2CID 3402991.
- ^ Dillon, Sally L.; Lawrence, Peter K.; Henry, Robert J.; Ross, Larry; Price, H. James; Johnston, J. Spencer (2004). "Sorghum laxiflorum and S. macrospermum, the Australian native species most closely related to the cultivated S. bicolor based on ITS1 and ndhF sequence analysis of 28 Sorghum species". Plant Systematics and Evolution. 249 (3–4): 233–246. Bibcode:2004PSyEv.249..233D. doi:10.1007/s00606-004-0210-7. eISSN 1615-6110. ISSN 0378-2697. S2CID 27363366.
- ^ Dillon, S. L.; Lawrence, P. K.; Henry, R. J.; Ross, L.; Price, H. J.; Johnston, J. S. (2004). "Sorghum laxiflorum and S. macrospermum, the Australian native species most closely related to the cultivated S. bicolor based on ITS1 and ndhF sequence analysis of 25 Sorghum species". Plant Systematics and Evolution. 249 (3–4): 233–246. doi:10.1007/s00606-004-0210-7. ISSN 0378-2697.
- ^ "Tropicos, Sorghum Moench". Tropicos. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- ^ "Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 600 高粱属 gao liang shu Sorghum Moench, Methodus. 207. 1794". Efloras. Retrieved 31 May 2018.
- ^ a b c Fuller, Dorian Q.; Stevens, Chris J. (2018). "Sorghum Domestication and Diversification: A Current Archaeobotanical Perspective". Plants and People in the African Past. Springer International Publishing. pp. 427–452. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-89839-1_19. ISBN 978-3-319-89838-4.
- ^ Carney, Judith (2009). In the Shadow of Slavery. University of California Press. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-5202-6996-5.
- ^ "Earliest Evidence of Domesticated Sorghum Discovered". Science News. 28 September 2017. Archived from the original on 9 February 2023. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
- ^ "The Plant List: Sorghum". Royal Botanic Gardens Kew and Missouri Botanic Garden. 2013. Retrieved 28 February 2017.
- ^ Guo, Minliang; Ye, Jingyang; Gao, Dawei; Xu, Nan; Yang, Jing (2019). "Agrobacterium-mediated horizontal gene transfer: Mechanism, biotechnological application, potential risk and forestalling strategy". Biotechnology Advances. 37 (1): 259–270. doi:10.1016/j.biotechadv.2018.12.008.
- ^ Varshney, Rajeev K.; Bohra, Abhishek; Yu, Jianming; Graner, Andreas; Zhang, Qifa; Sorrells, Mark E. (2021). "Designing Future Crops: Genomics-Assisted Breeding Comes of Age". Trends in Plant Science. 26 (6): 631–649. doi:10.1016/j.tplants.2021.03.010.
- ^ Bekele, Wubishet A.; Wieckhorst, Silke; Friedt, Wolfgang; Snowdon, Rod J. (2013). "High‐throughput genomics in sorghum: from whole‐genome resequencing to a SNP screening array". Plant Biotechnology Journal. 11 (9): 1112–1125. doi:10.1111/pbi.12106. ISSN 1467-7644.
- ^ United States Food and Drug Administration (2024). "Daily Value on the Nutrition and Supplement Facts Labels". Retrieved 28 March 2024.
- ^ National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Health and Medicine Division; Food and Nutrition Board; Committee to Review the Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium (2019). Oria, Maria; Harrison, Meghan; Stallings, Virginia A. (eds.). Dietary Reference Intakes for Sodium and Potassium. The National Academies Collection: Reports funded by National Institutes of Health. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US). ISBN 978-0-309-48834-1. PMID 30844154.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ The Complete Guide to Edible Wild Plants. New York]: Skyhorse Publishing, United States Department of the Army. 2009. p. 94. ISBN 978-1-60239-692-0. OCLC 277203364.
- ^ "Sorghum". Victoria, Australia: Agriculture Victoria. Archived from the original on 2 October 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2018.
- ^ "Cyanide (prussic acid) and nitrate in sorghum crops". Queensland Government, Primary Industries and Fisheries. 7 November 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
- ^ Dalziel, J.M. (1926). "African Leather Dyes". Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information. 6 (6). Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: 230. doi:10.2307/4118651. JSTOR 4118651.
- ^ Hariprasanna, K.; Patil, J. V. (2015), Madhusudhana, R.; Rajendrakumar, P.; Patil, J.V. (eds.), "Sorghum: Origin, Classification, Biology and Improvement", Sorghum Molecular Breeding, New Delhi: Springer India, pp. 3–20, doi:10.1007/978-81-322-2422-8_1, ISBN 978-81-322-2421-1
- ^ Rapuano, Rina (12 September 2012). "Sorghum Travels From The South To The Mainstream". NPR.org.
- ^ Bitzer, Morris. Sweet Sorghum for Syrup. Publication. N.p.: U of Kentucky, 2002. Web. 22 May 2014. <http://www.uky.edu/Ag/CCD/introsheets/swsorghumintro.pdf>
- ^ Curtin, Leo V. MOLASSES - GENERAL CONSIDERATIONS. Publication. Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and University of Florida, n.d. Web. 22 May 2014. <http://rcrec-ona.ifas.ufl.edu/pdf/publications/molasses-general-considerations..pdf Archived 2018-09-21 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Sweet Sorghum : A New "Smart Biofuel Crop". agribusinessweek.com. 30 June 2008. Archived from the original on 27 May 2015.
- ^ Mulhollem, Jeff (10 August 2020). "Flavonoids' presence in sorghum roots may lead to frost-resistant crop". Pennsylvania State University.
sorghum is a crop that can respond to climate change because of its high water- and nitrogen-use efficiency
- ^ Danovich, Tove (15 December 2015). "Move over, quinoa: sorghum is the new 'wonder grain'". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
- ^ Willy H. Verheye, ed. (2010). "Growth and Production of Sorghum and Millets". Soils, Plant Growth and Crop Production. Vol. II. EOLSS Publishers. ISBN 978-1-84826-368-0.
- ^ Edde, Peter A. (2012). "A review of the biology and control of Rhyzopertha dominica (F.) the lesser grain borer". Journal of Stored Products Research. 48 (1). Elsevier: 1–18. doi:10.1016/j.jspr.2011.08.007. ISSN 0022-474X. S2CID 84377289.
- ^ Ero, T.; Hirpa, D.; Seid, A. (2018). Anthracnose of sorghum-Ethiopia: Colletotrichum sublineolum (C. graminicola); yemashila michi (Report). Pest Management Decision Guides. Plantwiseplus Knowledge Bank. doi:10.1079/pwkb.20157800477. S2CID 253929998.
- ^ Bandyopadhyay, Ranajit; Frederickson, Debra E.; McLaren, Neal W.; Odvody, Gary N.; Ryley, Malcolm J. (April 1998). "Ergot: A New Disease Threat to Sorghum in the Americas and Australia". Plant Disease. 82 (4): 356–367. doi:10.1094/PDIS.1998.82.4.356. PMID 30856881.
- ^ a b "Production of sorghum in 2021, Crops/Regions/World list/Production Quantity/Year (pick lists)". UN Food and Agriculture Organization, Corporate Statistical Database (FAOSTAT). 2023. Retrieved 30 September 2023.
- ^ "Sorghum, targeted by tariffs, is a U.S. crop China started buying only five years ago". Los Angeles Times. 18 April 2018. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
- ^ a b "U.S. Sorghum Prices Rally with China's Return to the Market". fas.usda.gov. US Department of Agriculture. 28 July 2020.
- ^ "U.S. Sorghum Exports Dwindle on "Near-Evaporation" of Chinese Demand, as China Looks to Brazilian Corn". Farm Policy News. University of Illinois. 22 January 2023. Retrieved 18 March 2024.
- ^ Arndt, W. (1961). "Indigenous Sorghum as Food and in Myth: The Tagoman Tribe". Oceania. 32 (2): 109–112. JSTOR 40329309.
- ^ 최, 인학 (1996). "해와 달이 된 오누이" [Brother and sister who became the Sun and Moon]. Encyclopedia of Korean Culture (in Korean). 성남: Academy of Korean Studies. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
- ^ 조, 현설 (1996). "해와 달이 된 오누이". 한국민속문학사전 (Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture). 서울: National Folk Museum of Korea. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
- ^ Klaniczay, Gábor (1990). The Uses of Supernatural Power: The Transformation of Popular Religion in Medieval and Early-Modern Europe. Translated by Singerman, Susan. Princeton: Princeton University Press. pp. 129–130. ISBN 978-0-6910-7377-4.
Further reading[edit]
- Watson, Andrew M. (1983). Agricultural Innovation in the Early Islamic World: The Diffusion of Crops and Farming Techniques, 700–1100. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-24711-X.
External links[edit]
- . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 25 (11th ed.). 1911.
- "Sorghum and millets in human nutrition" FAO Report (1995) Archived 2018-10-01 at the Wayback Machine
