CSI Seminar Sajid Alavi, Mar 13 at 11:30 AM CT
The Center for Sorghum Improvement (CSI) will host a virtual seminar by Sajid Alavi, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Grain and Food Science, Kansas State University, on Friday, March 13 at 11:30 AM CT. His talk, titled “Red Pill or Blue Pill? Know the Matrix and Use the Unique Sorghum Endosperm to Advantage in Various Extrusion Applications,” will focus on how the unique structural and compositional properties of grain sorghum can be leveraged through extrusion processing to create tailored product matrices with improved digestibility, controlled functional properties, and diverse applications ranging from food aid products to high-performance aquaculture feeds while evaluating their environmental impacts.
The abstract of Dr. Alavi’s presentation is provided below:
Grain sorghum is known for its unique qualities including drought tolerance and low inputs for growing, endosperm proteins bound in tight clusters surrounded by shells that lead to issues with digestibility, and relatively inaccessible starch embedded in this protein matrix. This presentation will focus on leveraging these unique characteristics along with the low moisture, high temperature and mechanical shear involved in extrusion processing. The resultant product matrices can be tailored for improved performance, for example, greater digestibility yet retarded gelling properties, desired expansion while having reduced water absorption, etc. An overview will be provided of research in the K-State Extrusion Lab over the years supported by federal agencies such as USAID and USDA Foreign Agricultural Service and farmer organizations such as the United Sorghum Checkoff Program and Kansas Grain Sorghum Commission, which has also been adopted by industry. Applications covered will range from sorghum-based products in food aid programs to aquatic feed with improved performance in species such as tilapia. Work will also be presented on use of life cycle assessment tools for environmental impact of processed products based on sorghum versus other grains.
For information on this and future seminars visit the CSI seminar webpage.
