A Decade of Evidence of Sorghum Potential in the Development of Novel Food Products: Insights from a Bibliometric Analysis.

Aguiar EV, Santos FG, Queiroz VAV, Capriles VD

Published: 28 October 2023 in Foods (Basel, Switzerland)
Keywords: Sorghum bicolor L. Moench, bioactive compounds, food processing, gluten-free, whole grain
Pubmed ID: 37893683
DOI: 10.3390/foods12203790

Due to the increasing interest in sorghum for human nutrition, recent literature reviews highlight its nutrient and bioactive contents, potential health benefits and its 'gluten-free' feature. Moreover, a current view of research advances on sorghum-based food products is needed to help both food scientists and industry identify current trends and forward-looking approaches. Studies on homemade processing are still scarce. Thus, this review aimed to provide the latest information regarding the use of sorghum to develop ready-to-eat products or food ingredients based on studies published in the last decade (2012-2022), which then guided discussions on recent advances and prospects. The articles were identified by searching the Elsevier Scopus database. Sorghum has great potential as a functional and sustainable food that can be used in daily meals as a substitute for common cereals like wheat, rice and corn. The studies in the review show that it is possible to process sorghum in a wide variety of ways to obtain ready-to-eat products and ingredients for food products and preparations, such as popping, lamination, extrusion and wet cooking. The studies also show promising approaches to use sorghum in acceptable and nutrient-dense bakery and pasta products, highlighting their gluten-free versions. However, more efforts to make these novel food products available to consumers should be made.