Sorghum

Sorghum
Sorghum bicolor
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Plantae
(unranked):	Commelinids
Order:	Poales
Family:	Poaceae
Subfamily:	Panicoideae
Tribe:	Andropogoneae
Genus:	Sorghum Moench 1794, conserved name not Sorgum Adanson 1763
Type species
Sorghum bicolor (L.) Conrad Moench
Synonyms[1]
Blumenbachia Koeler 1802, rejected name not Schrad. 1825 (Loasaceae) Sarga Ewart Vacoparis Spangler Andropogon subg. Sorghum Hackel.

Sorghum is a genus of plants in the grass family. Seventeen of the twenty-five species are native to Australia,^[2] with the range of some extending to Africa, Asia, Mesoamerica, and certain islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans.^{[3][4][5][6][7][8]}

One species is grown for grain, while many others are used as fodder plants, either intentionally cultivated or allowed to grow naturally, in pasture lands. The plants are cultivated in warm climates worldwide and naturalized in many places.^[9] Sorghum is in the subfamily Panicoideae and the tribe Andropogoneae (the tribe of big bluestem and sugarcane).

Cultivation and uses

One species, Sorghum bicolor,^[10] native to Africa with many cultivated forms now,^[11] is an important crop worldwide, used for food (as grain and in sorghum syrup or "sorghum molasses"), animal fodder, the production of alcoholic beverages, and biofuels. Most varieties are drought- and heat-tolerant, and are especially important in arid regions, where the grain is one of the staples for poor and rural people. These varieties form important components of pastures in many tropical regions. S. bicolor is an important food crop in Africa, Central America, and South Asia, and is the "fifth-most important cereal crop grown in the world" according to the U.S. Grains Council.^[12]

Some species of sorghum can contain levels of hydrogen cyanide, hordenine, and nitrates lethal to grazing animals in the early stages of the plants' growth. When stressed by drought or heat, plants can also contain toxic levels of cyanide and/or nitrates at later stages in growth.^[13]

Another Sorghum species, Johnson grass (S. halapense), is classified as an invasive species in the US by the Department of Agriculture.^[14]

Nutrition

Sorghum, grain

Nutritional value per 100 g (3.5 oz)
Energy	1,377 kJ (329 kcal)
Carbohydrates	72.1 g
Dietary fiber	6.7 g
Fat	3.5 g
Protein	10.6 g
Vitamins
Thiamine (B1)	(29%) 0.33 mg
Riboflavin (B2)	(8%) 0.1 mg
Niacin (B3)	(25%) 3.7 mg
Pantothenic acid (B5)	(8%) 0.4 mg
Vitamin B6	(34%) 0.44 mg
Folate (B9)	(5%) 20 μg
Minerals
Calcium	(1%) 13 mg
Iron	(26%) 3.4 mg
Magnesium	(46%) 165 mg
Manganese	(76%) 1.6 mg
Phosphorus	(41%) 289 mg
Potassium	(8%) 363 mg
Sodium	(0%) 2 mg
Zinc	(18%) 1.7 mg
Full Report of USDA Database entry
Units μg = micrograms • mg = milligrams IU = International units
Percentages are roughly approximated using US recommendations for adults.

In a 100 gram amount, raw sorghum provides 329 calories, 72% carbohydrates, 4% fat and 11% protein (table). Sorghum supplies numerous essential nutrients in rich content (20% or more of the Daily Value, DV), including protein, the B vitamins, niacin, thiamin and vitamin B6, and several dietary minerals, including iron (26% DV) and manganese (76% DV) (table). Sorghum nutrient contents generally are similar to those of raw oats (see nutrition table).

Diversity

Accepted species^[1]

1. Sorghum amplum – northwestern Australia
2. Sorghum angustum – Queensland
3. Sorghum arundinaceum – Africa, Indian Subcontinent, Madagascar, islands of western Indian Ocean
4. 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
5. Sorghum brachypodum – Northern Territory of Australia
6. Sorghum bulbosum – Northern Territory, Western Australia
7. Sorghum burmahicum – Thailand, Myanmar
8. Sorghum controversum – India
9. Sorghum × drummondii – Sahel and West Africa
10. Sorghum ecarinatum – Northern Territory, Western Australia
11. Sorghum exstans – Northern Territory of Australia
12. Sorghum grande – Northern Territory, Queensland
13. Sorghum halepense – Johnson grass – North Africa, islands of eastern Atlantic, southern Asia from Lebanon to Vietnam; naturalized in East Asia, Australia, the Americas
14. Sorghum interjectum – Northern Territory, Western Australia
15. Sorghum intrans – Northern Territory, Western Australia
16. Sorghum laxiflorum – Philippines, Lesser Sunda Islands, Sulawesi, New Guinea, northern Australia
17. Sorghum leiocladum – Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria
18. Sorghum macrospermum – Northern Territory of Australia
19. Sorghum matarankense – Northern Territory, Western Australia
20. Sorghum nitidum – East Asia, Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Micronesia
21. Sorghum plumosum – Australia, New Guinea, Indonesia
22. Sorghum propinquum – China , Indian Subcontinent, Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Christmas Island, Micronesia, Cook Islands
23. Sorghum purpureosericeum – Sahel from Mali to Tanzania; Yemen, Oman, India
24. Sorghum stipoideum – Northern Territory, Western Australia
25. Sorghum timorense – Lesser Sunda Islands, Maluku, New Guinea, northern Australia
26. Sorghum trichocladum – Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras
27. Sorghum versicolor – eastern + southern Africa from Ethiopia to Namibia; Oman
28. Sorghum virgatum – dry regions from Senegal to Palestine

Formerly included^[1]

Many species once considered part of Sorghum, but now considered better suited to other genera include: Andropogon, Arthraxon, Bothriochloa, Chrysopogon, Cymbopogon, Danthoniopsis, Dichanthium, Diectomis, Diheteropogon, Exotheca, Hyparrhenia, Hyperthelia, Monocymbium, Parahyparrhenia, Pentameris, Pseudosorghum, Schizachyrium, and Sorghastrum.

See also

• 3-Deoxyanthocyanidin
• Apigeninidin
• Baijiu – Chinese alcoholic beverage distilled from sorghum
• List of antioxidants in food
• Millet
• Push–pull technology pest control strategy for maize and sorghum

References

1. Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
2. Sally L. Dillon, Peter K. Lawrence, Robert J. Henry, Larry Ross, H. James Price, J. Spencer Johnston. "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". SOUTHERN CROSS PLANT SCIENCE. Southern Cross University. Retrieved 28 February 2016.
3. Moench, Conrad. 1794. Methodus Plantas Horti Botanici et Agri Marburgensis : a staminum situ describendi page 207 in Latin
4. Tropicos, Sorghum Moench
5. Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 600 高粱属 gao liang shu Sorghum Moench, Methodus. 207. 1794
6. Flora of Pakistan, Sorghum Moench., Meth. Bot. 207. 1794
7. Altervista Flora Italiana, genere Sorghum
8. Atlas of Living Australia
9. Biota of North America Program 2013 county distribution maps
10. Mutegi, Evans; Fabrice Sagnard, Moses Muraya, Ben Kanyenji, Bernard Rono, Caroline Mwongera, Charles Marangu, Joseph Kamau, Heiko Parzies, Santie de Villiers, Kassa Semagn, Pierre Traoré, Maryke Labuschagne (2010-02-01). "Ecogeographical distribution of wild, weedy and cultivated Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench in Kenya: implications for conservation and crop-to-wild gene flow". Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 57 (2): 243–253. doi:10.1007/s10722-009-9466-7. Cite uses deprecated parameter |coauthors= (help);
11. http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=200026333
12. Sorghum, U.S. Grains Council.
13. Cyanide (prussic acid) and nitrate in sorghum crops - managing the risks. Primary industries and fisheries. Queensland Government. http://www.dpi.qld.gov.au/4790_20318.htm. 21 April 2011.
14. Johnson Grass, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Accessed 2257 UDT, 12 March 2009.

• Watson, Andrew M. Agricultural Innovation in the Early Islamic World: The Diffusion of Crops and Farming Techniques, 700–1100. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1983. ISBN 0-521-24711-X.

External links

• Species Profile- Johnsongrass (Sorghum halepense), National Invasive Species Information Center, United States National Agricultural Library. Lists general information and resources for Johnsongrass.
• FAO Report (1995) "Sorghum and millets in human nutrition"
• Sorghum on US Grains Council Web Site
• Sweet Sorghum Ethanol Association, organization for the promotion and development of sweet Sorghum as a source for biofuels, especially ethanol