Skip to main content

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Food Science Technology
Volume 11 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2024.1428542
This article is part of the Research Topic Processing Technology for Antioxidants in Food Production View all 3 articles

Impact of Heat and High-moisture pH Treatments on Starch Digestibility, Phenolic Composition, and Cell Bioactivity in Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) Flour

Provisionally accepted
Jaymi M. Peterson Jaymi M. Peterson 1Adina L. Santana Adina L. Santana 2Sarah Cox Sarah Cox 1Mayra A. Perez-Fajardo Mayra A. Perez-Fajardo 1Jose Covarrubias Jose Covarrubias 1Ramasamy Perumal Ramasamy Perumal 3Scott Bean Scott Bean 1Xiaorong (Shawn) Wu Xiaorong (Shawn) Wu 1Weiqun Wang Weiqun Wang 4Dmitriy Smolensky Dmitriy Smolensky 1*
  • 1 Grain Quality and Structure Research Unit, Center for Grain and Animal Health, Agricultural Research Service (USDA), Manhattan, United States
  • 2 Department of Grain Science and Industry, College of Agriculture, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, United States
  • 3 Agricultural Research Center, Kansas State University, Manhattan, United States
  • 4 Department of Food, Nutrition, Dietetics and Health, College of Health and Human Sciences, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench), characterized by substantial genetic diversity, encompasses some lines rich in health-promoting polyphenols. Laboratory studies have demonstrated anticancer properties of sorghum phenolics; however, their presence may impact nutritional factors, such as digestible starch. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of pH and high-moisture heating on starch digestibility, phenolic profile, and anticancer activity in sorghum. High Phenolic sorghum flour line SC84 was combined with buffer solutions (pH 3, 4, 5, 7, and 8) and heated for 0, 10, 30, 60, or 120 min. Starch digestibility was assessed using the K-DSTRS kit from Megazyme. Changes in phenolic composition were analyzed using total phenolic content (TPC) and condensed tannin content (CTC) assays coupled with reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) analysis. Anticancer potential against human colorectal cancer cells (HCT116 and SW480) was determined though cell viability assay. Results indicated a significant increase in total starch digestibility of sample after heating. Heating samples for 10 min did not significantly reduce TPC of samples. However, CTC was significantly reduced with heating time, while pH exhibited no significant effect on CTC. The measured 3-deoxyanthocyanidins experienced a significant decrease (p<0.0001), while certain flavonoids increased significantly (p<0.05) after heating for 30 min or longer. Notably, the 10 min heating duration minimally affected anticancer activity, whereas longer heat times diminished extract efficacy against human colorectal cancer cells. Alkaline pH levels significantly decreased anticancer activity, regardless of heating time. Importantly, heating sorghum for 10 min improved starch digestibility with minimal compromise to potential health benefits. These findings suggest promising implications for the development of high-phenolic sorghum products, and provide valuable insights to guide forthcoming animal and clinical studies. The demonstrated impact of wet-heating on increased starch digestibility, coupled with the preservation of phenolic content and bioactivity, underscores the potential of incorporating high-phenolic sorghum lines in future functional food formulations.

    Keywords: Sorghum flour, Sorghum polyphenols, Starch digestibility, sorghum bioactivity, high-moisture heat treatment, pH treatment

    Received: 06 May 2024; Accepted: 26 Jul 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Peterson, Santana, Cox, Perez-Fajardo, Covarrubias, Perumal, Bean, Wu, Wang and Smolensky. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Dmitriy Smolensky, Grain Quality and Structure Research Unit, Center for Grain and Animal Health, Agricultural Research Service (USDA), Manhattan, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.