This review examines sorghum digestibility from molecular structure to clinical implications, focusing on compositional factors, processing methods, and health outcomes. We evaluate how sorghum's unique protein-starch interactions influence digestibility and explore emerging technologies that can modulate these properties for targeted nutritional benefits. Cooked sorghum generally has lower digestibility than raw sorghum and other cereals due to heat-induced protein-starch cross-linking and the formation of disulfide bonds by sorghum proteins (kafirins), which restrict enzymatic access. Enzyme inhibitors in sorghum further reduce starch hydrolysis. This reduced digestibility may negatively impact malnourished individuals and those relying on sorghum as a dietary staple. However, it can be advantageous to individuals with diabetes by lowering postprandial blood glucose levels. Sorghum consumption may also beneficially influence the gut microbiome. Certain processing methods have been shown to significantly enhance digestibility while preserving beneficial bioactive compounds. Improving digestibility through these strategies may enhance sorghum's value for vulnerable populations while maintaining its metabolic advantages. Balancing increased nutrient bioavailability with preservation of beneficial functional properties is critical for optimizing sorghum as a health-promoting grain across diverse populations.

Background and ObjectivesSorghum is the principal food source for smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. Animal proteins are beyond economic reach, and only few food legumes are well-adapted in major sorghum-growing regions. Hence, sorghum serves as the primary source of protein and calories. However, the low digestibility of its proteins renders the communities vulnerable to protein malnutrition. Several factors, including genotypes and processing methods, have been shown to affect the digestibility of proteins in sorghum food products. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of grain pretreatment on the protein digestibility of Ethiopian fermented flatbread.FindingsThe effect of four grain pretreatment processes: decortication, sprouting, parching, and untreated control was compared using four diverse sorghum genotypes milled to medium (2 mm) and fine (0.5 mm) particle sizes. The in-vitro protein digestibility (IVPD) was significantly lower in the parched samples compared to the unprocessed control, while sprouting significantly increased IVPD. Decortication appears to have no impact on IVPD. Finer particle size tended to enhance IVPD in all genotypes and for all pretreatement methods. The treatments had no significant effect on protein content except the sprouting consistently but marginally increased total protein.ConclusionsSprouting sorghum grains can significantly improve the protein digestibility of fermented breads. Given that it involves little cost, the process can be readily adopted by the local community, provided that they are educated about the impact of protein deficiency on the health and productivity of the community.Significance and NoveltyLow-cost grain pretreatment procedures such as sprouting can have a significant impact on the availability of nutrients, especially protein, the most limiting nutrient in smallholder communities. Combining the procedure with genetically enhanced varieties and improved cropping systems that integrate food legumes can significantly enhnace protein nutrition for smallholder farmers.

Trait-based breeding has been shown to enhance and sustain yield potential of various crops under current and future changing climate. To be successful, trait-based breeding requires extensive phenotyping of plants in largescale field trials that may include hundreds of genotypes. Computer vision approaches have been used extensively for image-based high-throughput phenotyping of diverse traits. However, studies focused on estimating grain count, a trait that directly influences the overall yield, are limited due to a lack of benchmark grain image datasets. In this work, we focus on grain count estimation in sorghum, a crop that holds immense significance for both food and energy production. We introduce a large Sorghum-Grain-Count (SGC) dataset consisting of (front and back, with and without flash) images of 1264 panicles from 316 genotypes (i.e., 4 panicles per genotype), for a total of approximately 5000 images, as well as approximately 12,500 images containing the corresponding threshed grains, together with machine counts per panicle. To develop baseline models, we manually annotated grains in images from 100 genotypes using bounding boxes. We used the manually annotated images to train baseline models for small object detection and counting. We also trained regression-based models for grain count estimation. The best overall model for count estimation from panicle images was a regression model, which achieved a mean absolute percent error of 29.97 and an R2 value of 0.75. We make our dataset and baselines publicly available to facilitate further research on grain count estimation in sorghum and other crops.

Background and Objectives: Fundamentally it is important to understand starch granule initiation and deposition of starch molecules during the growth of granules. The objective of this study was to investigate the morphology, composition, and structure of starches in sorghum from fifth day post-anthesis (DPA) until the maturity (25 DPA). Findings: The minimal size of sorghum starch for showing Maltese cross was 4 mu m. The average size of starches on 5 DPA was 3.2 mu m, and most starches did not exhibit Maltese cross. Amylose content was low (13.0%) on 5 DPA and increased to 31% on 25 DPA. The size of amylose was long with a peak at DP 1771 on 5 DPA and changed during the starch biosynthesis. The short-chain amylopectin proportion significantly increased on 25 DPA. Conclusions: The low amylose content and high proportion of long-chain amylose might be favorable for the initial sorghum starch formation. The starch polymers were less radially oriented in the primary starches. Amylopectin in the periphery of a large sorghum starch was more branched than that of the inner part. Significance and Novelty: The variations in the amylose length distributions and orientation of starch polymers provide new information on starch biosynthesis.

This study aimed to establish NIR spectroscopy models for fast predicting apparent amylose (AA) and total starch (TS) content in SSK. Reliable wet chemistry procedures for quantifying TS and AA in single sorghum kernel (SSK) were established, which achieved high accuracy with test errors below 1.0 %. The partial least squares (PLS) model with 2 latent variables (LVs) for AA prediction had coefficients of determination of 0.91 (R2cal) and 0.85 (R2cv), and root mean square errors (RMSE) of 1.90 % and 2.47 % for calibration (RMSEC) and cross-validation (RMSECV), respectively. It showed an R2pred of 0.83 and RMSE of 2.58 % for prediction (RMSEP) when validated with the independent validation set. The optimal SSK-TS NIR PLS calibration model was built from 187 calibration sorghum kernels with 10 LVs, which had a R2cal of 0.79, RMSEC of 2.76 % and RMSECV of 4.93 % and showed a R2pred of 0.72 and RMSEP of 3.19 % when applied to an independent validation set of 93 samples. Overall, this study successfully developed wet chemistry methods for measuring AA and TS contents in SSK and established NIR models for nondestructive prediction and sorting of sorghum kernels by their TS or AA content, serving as useful tools for sorghum breeding and application research.

Waxy sorghum seeds, defined by reduced amylose content in starch, offer the potential for improving grain quality in food and industrial applications. While waxy endosperms arising from a nonfunctional waxy (wx) allele leading to the absence of granule-bound starch synthase enzyme have been identified in sorghum, their broader effects on seed development and grain quality remain inadequately understood. To address this gap, we identified a novel wx loss-of-function allele, "wxe" in the mutant population of the sorghum reference genome line BTx623. Beyond reduced amylose content, wxe exhibited increased kernel hardness, elevated protein content, reduced endosperm-to-germ ratio, and decreased kernel weight compared to the wild-type. Integrating transcriptomic, metabolomic, and seed chemistry analyses revealed coordinated regulatory changes during seed development due to disrupted amylose synthesis. This included altered starch granule structure, enhanced lipid profiles, and reduced carbohydrate content. Differentially expressed genes and transcription factors related to starch metabolism provided insights into the regulatory mechanisms. Furthermore, metabolic profiling showed significant changes in the accumulation of compounds influencing flavor and nutritional properties. This study enhances our understanding of the molecular coordination of sorghum seed development and provides new insights into regulating seed development.

The AI revolution, advanced Graphics Processing Units (GPUs), and open-source platforms have enabled Machine Learning (ML) and Deep Learning (DL) algorithms to rapidly and accurately extract phenotypic features from imagery. Such advancements have led to phenotypic digitization and made rapid yield forecasting possible. Yield predictions are critical to assess the merit of genotypes to propel cultivar development. This trial followed a three-replicated Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with 36 diverse sorghum genotypes in 2023 at Ashland Bottoms, Kansas. The field images were captured 6 m above using a DJI M300 drone at 90° nadir and 45° oblique angles. This research trained YOLO and Faster R-CNN (Detectron2) models to harness yield attributes from UAS field and lab images. The YOLO models outperformed the Faster R-CNN in detecting sorghum panicles, achieving a mean average precision at 50 % IoU (mAP@0.50) scores of 0.92-0.98, compared to 0.61-0.89 for Faster R-CNN. Panicle detection from field imagery showed a linear correlation of 0.86 with ground truth field panicle counts. Lab imagery analyses measured panicle area, seed counts, and seed area with correlation coefficients of 0.79, 0.94, and 0.25 with respective ground truth observations. Support Vector Regression (SVR), Random Forest Regression (RFR), and Decision Tree Regression (DTR) were used to predict yield with correlation coefficients of 0.74, 0.71, and 0.78, respectively, and SHapley Additive exPlanation (SHAP) analysis revealed panicle seed count as the primary driver of yield prediction. We observed YOLO models are well-suited for extracting yield-predictive features from pertinent images. Such features can then be incorporated into ML regression models to predict yield per se performance with greater accuracy. The GitHub link is provided in the Data availability section.

Several mutations of the sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] GRANULE-BOUND STARCH SYNTHASE (GBSS) gene [Sobic.010G022600; commonly known as Waxy (Wx)] result in a low amylose:amylopectin starch ratio. Recessive waxy (wx) alleles improve starch digestibility in ethanol production, human foods and beverages, and animal feed. However, breeding waxy sorghum is challenging due to reliance on traditional PCR markers for genotyping, which are not amenable to next-generation sequencing (NGS). Most commercial breeding programs use high-throughput genotyping and genomic selection in large, segregating populations prior to flowering. This study provides the first published NGS markers for the two most commonly used waxy (wx) alleles of sorghum and is the first to fully sequence the large insertion that is causal of the wxa allele. In the absence of a pangenome including wxa genotypes, we constructed an in silico B.Tx623 wxa genome assembly from the B.Tx623 reference genome (v3.1.1) including the insertion, a 5-kb-long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposon of the copia superfamily. The in silico wxa assembly improved read mapping at Sobic.010G022600 in wxa individuals, identified 78 new uniquely mapped reads, and made it possible to distinguish different Waxy genotypes using short-read sequencing data. Functional PACE-PCR markers, suitable for marker-assisted selection and multiplexed, low-to-mid-density genomic selection, were developed for Wx, wxa, and wxb alleles. The PACE markers were validated in segregating populations of three public and private breeding programs. These new molecular breeding resources comprise a toolkit that will improve the efficiency of developing commercial waxy sorghum hybrids using genomics-assisted approaches.

Background and ObjectivesField experiments were conducted to assess the influence of in-season split application of nitrogen (N) on grain protein, protein digestibility, and amino acid dynamics in grain sorghum, in three different environments. Treatments included a zero N check and eight treatments with varying N application timings and amounts.FindingsThe five high N treatments had significantly greater grain protein content than all the lower N treatments. As the total protein increased, the kafirin portion of the protein increased, whereas the albumin-globulin levels decreased. Nitrogen treatment had a significant effect on 13 of the 18 amino acids. High N applications significantly increased amino acids on a protein basis including alanine, glutamic acid, leucine, proline, and phenylalanine.ConclusionsTreatment N92 with N applied at 92 kg N ha-1 as split application at three different growth stages including planting, panicle initiation, and booting emerged as the optimum N treatment for increasing protein and amino acid concentration in grain sorghum.Significance and NoveltyThe ideal N application approach identified can be used to screen a wide range of sorghum hybrids under varying levels of irrigation and the same N treatments can be adopted by producers to enhance grain protein in sorghum.

Several mutations of the sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] GRANULE-BOUND STARCH SYNTHASE (GBSS) gene [Sobic.010G022600] result in a low amylose:amylopectin starch ratio in the endosperm and confer a glutinous, “waxy” texture; hence, the wild-type gene is commonly referred to as Waxy (Wx). Recessive waxy (wx) alleles improve starch digestibility in ethanol production, human foods and beverages, and animal feed. However, breeding waxy sorghum can be time-consuming due to the need for grain to reach physiological maturity before the trait can be phenotyped and ongoing reliance on PCR markers for genotyping, which are not amenable to next-generation sequencing (NGS). Modern genomics-assisted breeding requires conducing high-throughput genotyping and selection in large, segregating populations prior to flowering. This study provides the first published NGS markers for the two mostly commonly used waxy (wx) alleles of sorghum and is the first to fully characterize the large insertion that is causal of the wxa allele. An enhanced genome assembly was constructed from the B.Tx623 reference genome (v3.1.1) to include the 5.6 kb large retrotransposon derivative (LARD) in the wxa allele. This improved read mapping at Sobic.010G022600 in wxa individuals, identified 78 new uniquely mapped reads, and made it possible to distinguish different Waxy genotypes using short-read sequencing data. Functional PACE-PCR markers, suitable for genomic selection, were developed for Wx, wxa, and wxb alleles and validated in three public and private breeding programs. These new molecular breeding resources will improve the efficiency of developing commercial waxy sorghum hybrids.

Abstract Cereal seeds are vital for food, feed, and agricultural sustainability because they store and provide essential nutrients to human and animal food and feed systems. Unraveling molecular processes in seed development is crucial for enhancing cereal grain yield and quality. We analyze spatiotemporal transcriptome and metabolome profiles during sorghum seed development in the inbred line ‘BTx623’. Morphological and molecular analyses identify the key stages of seed maturation, specifying starch biosynthesis onset at 5 days post-anthesis (dpa) and protein at 10 dpa. Transcriptome profiling from 1 to 25 dpa reveal dynamic gene expression pathways, shifting from cellular growth and embryo development (1–5 dpa) to cell division, fatty acid biosynthesis (5–25 dpa), and seed storage compounds synthesis in the endosperm (5–25 dpa). Network analysis identifies 361 and 207 hub genes linked to starch and protein synthesis in the endosperm, respectively, which will help breeders enhance sorghum grain quality. The availability of this data in the sorghum reference genome line establishes a baseline for future studies as new pangenomes emerge, which will consider copy number and presence-absence variation in functional food traits.

Background and ObjectivesThis study investigated the effect of using different phenolic-containing grain brans on nanoparticle properties.FindingsThis study successfully synthesized nanoparticles from bran flour isolated from three different sources: sorghum (Sumac and Burgundy) and hard red winter wheat (cv. 1863). The phenolic contents of the three brans were measured as 33.40, 4.98, and 1.59 mg GAE/g, respectively. NPs synthesized from the bran flour had phenolic content measuring 6.41 (sorghum-Sumac bran), 5.31 (sorghum-Burgundy bran), and 1.15 mg GAE/g (wheat bran). Adding gold to the NPs decreased phenolic content in all three cases: 2.50 (sorghum-Sumac bran), 1.80 (sorghum-Burgundy bran), and 0.30 (wheat-bran) mg GAE/g. Thus, the synthesis had an impact on the phenolic content. The sizes of the particles were measured using dynamic light scattering: 159 (sorghum-Sumac), 78 (sorghum-Burgundy), and 117 (wheat) nm, respectively. After gold was added, the sizes of the particles changed to 113 (sorghum-Sumac), 115 (sorghum-Burgundy), and 94 (wheat) nm, respectively.ConclusionsCereal bran is an eco-friendly source of biopolymers for producing nanoparticles. With its high phenolic content, sorghum bran is ideal for making nanoparticles with various applications. Wheat and sorghum bran is a mill by-product that can be used to synthesize nanoparticles, increasing the value of these agricultural products.Novelty and SignificanceA method was established to develop gold nanoparticles from grain bran. These methods can be used to develop value-added products across many different applications.

A BSTRACT . Sorghum, a nutritious and gluten-free cereal crop, is currently underutilized. The absence of standardized milling technology contributes to the low utilization of sorghum in food. Most existing milling methods adopted from other crops yield inferior flour quality with excessive endosperm loss. However, implementing appropriate tempering techniques prior to roller milling can enhance flour characteristics and yields. In this study, a roller milling technology was developed using a laboratory-scale roller mill to produce high-quality sorghum flour suitable for gluten-free applications. Ultrasound treatments were conducted using a probe-type ultrasound device with a frequency of 20 kHz and a power level of 600 W. The kernels were soaked in water (1:1 w/v) and subjected to ultrasound treatment set at 75% amplitude for 1, 1.5, and 2 min. After treatment, the kernels were drained, surface dried, and tempered for 24 h in sealed polythene bags to achieve a target moisture level of 17%. The effect of UST on milling and flour characteristics of a non-tannin white and red-tannin sorghum was investigated. The results were compared to sorghum milled using a standard tempering process (17% moisture). Ultrasound tempering (UST) significantly impacted milling and flour quality in terms of milling yield, particle size, damaged starch, and ash content. UST resulted in a significant reduction in the hardness index of both the white sorghum (72.6-73.6 from 79.02 (control)) and the red-tannin sumac sorghum (76.2-78.29 from 84.5 (control)). Notably, the milling yield of the white sorghum showed a significant increase with treatment durations, from 73.3% (control) to 76.6%-78.2%. The red-tannin sumac sorghum milled using the 1 min UST resulted in a higher bran yield (5.8%) compared to the standard tempering method (1.7%), indicating an improvement in milling efficiency. The 1 min UST resulted in efficient bran separation and improved ash contents for both the white (0.87%) and red-tannin sumac (0.69%) sorghum, as compared to their respective controls (1.05% and 1.4%). The principal component analysis clearly defined the inter-relationship among the treatment groups and analyzed parameters for both kernel and flour properties. Overall, the developed milling flowsheet was suitable for both the white and red-tannin sumac varieties, regardless of their differences in physical properties, and the use of UST has significantly improved the flour quality of both samples.

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.

Identification of high carotenoid germplasm is crucial to assist breeders in provitamin-A biofortification of sorghum (Sorghum bicolor [L.] Moench). High-performance liquid chromatography is the gold standard for carotenoid quantification, however, it is not feasible for large scale phenotyping due to its high cost and low throughput. In this study, we tested the feasibility of using grain color as a high-throughput method of carotenoid biofortification breeding. We hypothesized that visual, color-based selection can be an effective strategy to identify high-carotenoid accessions. Yellow grain had significantly higher carotenoid content than red, brown, and white grain. The degree of yellowness could distinguish the presence or absence of carotenoids, but could not distinguish carotenoid concentrations within yellow-only accessions. The degree of luminosity of the grain, however, was able to better predict carotenoid concentrations within yellow-only accessions. Genome-wide association studies identified significant marker-trait associations for qualitative and quantitative grain color traits and carotenoid concentrations near carotenoid pathway genes—ZEP, PDS, CYP97A, NCED, CCD, and LycE—three of which were common between grain color and carotenoid traits. These findings suggest that using grain color as a method for screening germplasm may be an effective high-throughput selection tool for prebreeding and early-stage breeding in carotenoid biofortification.

Near infrared (NIR) spectroscopy is widely used for evaluating quality traits of cereal grains. For evaluating protein content of intact sorghum grains, parallel NIR calibrations were developed using an established benchtop instrumentation (Perten DA-7250) as a baseline to test the efficacy of an adaptive handheld instrument (VIAVI MicroNIR OnSite-W). Spectra were collected from 59 grain samples using both instruments at the same time. Cross-validated calibration models were validated with 33 test samples. The selected calibration model for DA-7250 with a coefficient of determination (R2) = 0.98 and a root mean square error of cross validation (RMSECV) = 0.41% predicted the protein content of a test set with R2 = 0.94, root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) = 0.52% with a ratio of performance to deviation (RPD) of 4.13. The selected model for the MicroNIR with R2 = 0.95 and RMSECV = 0.62% predicted the protein content of the test set with R2 = 0.87, RMSEP = 0.76% with an RPD of 2.74. In comparison, the performance of the DA-7250 was better than the MicroNIR, however, the performance of the MicroNIR was also acceptable for screening intact sorghum grain protein levels. Therefore, the MicroNIR instrument may be used as a potential tool for screening sorghum samples where benchtop instruments are not appropriate such as for screening samples in the field or as a less expensive option compared with benchtop instruments.

Background and ObjectivesSupplementation of foods with insect flours has been shown to be promising for improving the nutritional profile of food products. The objective of this study was to characterize two commercially available cricket protein powders and investigate their impact on molecular weight distribution when incorporated into wheat dough. FindingsCharacterization of commercial cricket protein powders, GrioPro (R) (G) and Entomo Farms (E) was carried out by size exclusion high-performance liquid chromatography (SEC-HPLC), and sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The functionality of the cricket protein powders was examined by measuring water holding capacity (WHC) and protein solubility across a range of pH. To see the interactions between the cricket proteins in a food-based system wheat dough samples containing 10% or 20% replacement levels of the cricket powders were collected at peak torque development and analyzed to SEC-HPLC to quantify the change in soluble polymeric proteins (SPP) and insoluble polymeric proteins (IPP) and provide information on changes to protein molecular weight distribution. SDS-PAGE analysis showed bands ranging from 40 kDa to 160 kDa for sample E while sample G had no visible bands either due to poor solubility in SDS-PAGE sample buffer and/or the presence of very high molecular proteins that did not enter the gel. Sample E absorbed approximately 2.5 times its weight in water, which was significantly lower than G (similar to 3.0 times its weight) while sample G was significantly lower in solubility than E across all pH levels. ConclusionsBoth cricket protein powders increased in WHC and solubility as the pH increased. Wheat dough samples containing sample E had lower peak areas of IPP and no significant difference in SPP peak areas compared to the control. On the other hand, doughs containing sample G had a significant increase in IPP peak areas at the 20% replacement level. Significance and NoveltyThis study shows how the difference in processing changed the functionality of G and E which impacted their interactions when added to a wheat dough-based system.

The market for plant proteins is expanding rapidly as the negative impacts of animal agriculture on the environment and resources become more evident. Plant proteins offer competitive advantages in production costs, energy requirements, and sustainability. Conventional plant-protein extraction is water and chemical-intensive, posing environmental concerns. Dry fractionation is an energy-efficient and environmentally friendly process for protein separation, preserving protein's native functionality. Cereals and pulses are excellent sources of plant proteins as they are widely grown worldwide. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the dry fractionation process utilized for different seeds to obtain protein-rich fractions with high purity and functionality. Pretreatments, such as dehulling and defatting, are known to enhance the protein separation efficiency. Factors, such as milling speed, mill classifier speed, feed rate, seed type, and hardness, were crucial for obtaining parent flour of desired particle size distribution during milling. The air classification or electrostatic separation settings are crucial in determining the quality of the separated protein. The cut point in air classification is targeted based on the starch granule size of the seed material. Optimization of these operations, applied to different pulses and seeds, led to higher yields of proteins with higher purity. Dual techniques, such as air classification and electrostatic separation, enhance protein purity. The yield of the protein concentrates can be increased by recycling the coarse fractions. Further research is necessary to improve the quality, purity, and yield of protein concentrates to enable more efficient use of plant proteins to meet global protein demands.

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is the fifth most important cereal crop worldwide; however, its utilization in food products can be limited due to reduced nutritional quality related to amino acid composition and protein digestibility in cooked products. Low essential amino acid levels and digestibility are influenced by the composition of the sorghum seed storage proteins, kafirins. In this study, we report a core collection of 206 sorghum mutant lines with altered seed storage proteins. Wet lab chemistry analysis was conducted to evaluate the total protein content and 23 amino acids, including 19 protein-bound and 4 non-protein amino acids. We identified mutant lines with diverse compositions of essential and non-essential amino acids. The highest total protein content in these lines was almost double that of the wild-type (BTx623). The mutants identified in this study can be used as a genetic resource to improve the sorghum grain quality and determine the molecular mechanisms underlying the biosynthesis of storage protein and starch in sorghum seeds.

Four sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] seed parents, male sterile A and four male fertile B maintainer lines (KS148A [Reg. no. PL-321, PI 701488], KS148B [Reg. no. PL-322, PI 701489], KS149A [Reg. no. PL-323, PI 701490], KS149B [Reg. no. PL-324, PI 701491], KS150A [Reg. no. PL-325, PI 701492], KS150B [Reg. no. PL-326, PI 701493], KS151A [Reg. no. PL-327, PI 701494], KS151B [Reg. no. PL-328, PI 701495]), and six pollinator parents [KS152R (Reg. no. PL-329, PI 701496), KS153R (Reg. no. PL-330, PI 701497), KS154R (Reg. no. PL-331, PI 701498), KS155R (Reg. no. PL-332, PI 701499), KS156R (Reg. no. PL-333, PI 701500), and KS157R (Reg. no. PL-334, PI 701501) from the Kansas State University, Agricultural Research Center, Hays, KS, were approved for release by the Kansas State University in July 2021. These 10 lines were from different populations and were developed through recurrent selection (random mating) followed by pedigree and backcross breeding methods between the selected germplasms (PI 574562, PI 550610, PI 574599, PI 574560, PI 550607, and IS 1269C), adapted breeding lines and different genetic male sterile ms3 lines (KP 8B, N310B, B06-41701-167, B9614, BHF14, BH8606-6) in different combinations. Parent lines KS148A&B, KS149A&B, KS152R, and KS153R are tolerant to chilling stress and KS150A&B, KS151A&B, KS154R, KS155R, KS156R, and KS157R are tolerant to drought stress and are recommended to develop hybrids respectively for early (end of April to first week of May) and regular (end of May to first week of June) planting for the central Great Plains. Preliminary screening of all 10 lines showed tolerance to nine postemergence herbicides. These 10 parent lines are early to medium maturity, three-dwarf (dw1, Dw2, dw3, dw4) in height, photoperiod-insensitive, and possess unique combinations of plant and seed color. All 10 parent lines are tannin free with acceptable grain quality, short peduncle length, compact or semi-compact panicles, and combining ability for yield and standability.