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Seus outros nomes incluem Durra, Millet egípcio, Feterita, Milho da Guiné (África), Jwari, Jowar (Índia), Juwar, Milo (Espanha), Kaolian (China), Shallu, Grama do Sudão, Cholam, Jola, Jonnalu, Gaoliang, Grande Millet, Milho Kafir (África), Dura, Dari, Mtama e Solam. Para detalhes mais específicos sobre o sorgo explorado comercialmente, ver sorgo comercial, também conhecido como ''milo''.
O sorgo tem sido, durante séculos, um dos mais importantes alimentos básicos para milhões de pessoas em regiões rurais pobres de regiões tropicais semi-áridas da Ásia e da África. Para algumas das regiões mais pobres do mundo, o sorgo continua a ser uma importante fonte de energia, proteína, vitaminas e minerais. Sorgo cresce em ambientes hostis onde outras culturas não se desenvolvem bem, assim como outros alimentos básicos, tais como a [[mandioca]], que são comuns em regiões pobres do mundo. Ele é geralmente cultivado sem aplicação de quaisquer fertilizantes ou outros insumos por uma multidão de pequenos agricultores em vários países.<ref name="fao1">{{citar web|título=Sorghum and millet in human nutrition|publicado=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations[[FAO]]|data=1995|língua3=en|url=http://www.fao.org/docrep/T0818E/T0818E00.htm}}</ref>
O grão de sorgo é o terceiro cereal mais importante cultivado nos Estados Unidos e o quinto cereal mais importante no mundo. Em 2010, os Estados Unidos foram o maior produtor mundial de sementes de sorgo, seguido por Índia e Índia. Nos países desenvolvidos, e cada vez mais nos países em desenvolvimento como a Índia, o uso predominante de sorgo é como forragem para aves e gado.<ref name="icrisat">{{citar web|url=http://www.icrisat.org/journal/mpii/v3i1/impi1.pdf|título=Industrial Utilization of Sorghum in India|publicado=ICRISAT, India|data=Dezembro de 2007|língua3=en|acessodata=7 de fevereiro de 2012}}</ref><ref>{{citar web|url=http://www.grains.org/sorghum|título=Sorghum|publicado=United States Grain Council|data=Novembro de 2010|língua3=en|acessodata=7 de fevereiro de 2012}}</ref> Em 2010, os maiores exportadores de sorgo foram Estados Unidos, Austrália e Argentina; enquanto o México foi o maior importador.
Existe um esforço internacional para melhorar o cultivo do sorgo e encontrar aplicações adicionais. Sorgo está agora encontrando demanda principalmente como ração para aves, secundariamente, como alimento de gado e na preparação de bebidas.<ref name="agmrc">{{citar web|url=http://www.agmrc.org/commodities__products/grains__oilseeds/sorghum/general_sorghum.cfm|título=General Sorghum|data=2011|publicado=Agricultural Resource Marketing Center|língua3=en|acessodata=7 de fevereiro de 2012}}</ref>
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==Cultivation and uses==
[[Image:2005sorghum.PNG|thumb|left|Sorghum output in 2005.]]
One species, ''[[Sorghum bicolor]]'',<ref>{{Cite journal
| doi = 10.1007/s10722-009-9466-7
| volume = 57
| issue = 2
| pages = 243–253
| last = Mutegi
| first = Evans
| coauthors = 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
| title = Ecogeographical distribution of wild, weedy and cultivated Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench in Kenya: implications for conservation and crop-to-wild gene flow
| journal = Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution
| accessdate = 2010-08-02
| date = 2010-02-01
}}</ref> is an important world crop, used for [[food]] (as grain and in [[Sweet sorghum|sorghum syrup or "sorghum molasses"]]), [[fodder]], the production of [[alcoholic beverage]]s, as well as biofuels. Most varieties are [[xerophyte|drought]] and heat tolerant, and are especially important in [[arid]] regions, where the grain is staple or one of the staples for poor and rural people. They form an important component of pastures in many tropical regions. Sorghum is an important [[food crop]] in [[Africa]], [[Central America]], and [[South Asia]] and is the "fifth most important [[cereal]] crop grown in the world".<ref>[http://www.grains.org/sorghum Sorghum], U.S. Grains Council.</ref>
Some species of sorghum can contain levels of [[hydrogen cyanide]], [[hordenine]] and nitrates lethal to grazing animals in the early stages of the plant's growth. Stressed plants, even at later stages of growth, can also contain toxic levels of cyanide.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}}
Another ''Sorghum'' species, [[Johnson grass]] (''S. halapense''), is classified as an [[Invasive Species|invasive species]] in the US by the [[United States Department of Agriculture|Department of Agriculture]].<ref>[http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/plants/johnsongrass.shtml Johnson Grass], U.S. Department of Agriculture, Accessed 2257 UDT, 12 March, 2009.</ref>
''Sorghum vulgare'' var. ''technicum'' is commonly called broomcorn.<ref>[http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/afcm/broomcorn.html Broomcorn], Alternative Field Crops Manual, Purdue University, Accessed 14 Mar 2011.</ref>
[[image:Sorghum_Field_El_Salvador_2011.jpg|right|thumb|200px|Sorghum field in Central America]]
===Production trends===
[[FAO]] reports that [[United States of America]] was the top producer of sorghum in 2009 with a 9.7 million metric tonnes harvest. The next four major producers of sorghum, in decreasing quantities were [[India]], [[Nigeria]], [[Sudan]] and [[Ethiopia]]. The other major sorghum producing regions in the world, by harvested quantities, were: Australia, Brazil, China, Burkina Faso, Argentina, Mali, Cameroon, Egypt, Niger, United Republic of Tanzania, Chad, Uganda, Mozambique, Venezuela, and Ghana.<ref>{{cite web|title=Agricultural Production, Worldwide, 2009|publisher=FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations|date=2010|url=http://faostat.fao.org/site/339/default.aspx}}</ref>
The world harvested 55.6 million tonnes of sorghum in 2010. The world average annual yield for the 2010 sorghum crop was 1.37 tonnes per hectare. The most productive farms of sorghum were in [[Jordan]], where the nationwide average annual yield was 12.7 tonnes per hectare. The nationwide annual average yield in world's largest producing country, the USA, was 4.5 tonnes per hectare.<ref>{{cite web|title=Crop Production, Worldwide, 2010 data|publisher=FAOSTAT, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations|date=2011|url=http://faostat.fao.org/site/567/DesktopDefault.aspx?PageID=567#ancor}}</ref>
The allocation of farm area to sorghum crop has been dropping, while the yields per hectare has been increasing. The biggest sorghum crop the world produced in the last 40 years was in 1985, with a 77.6 million tonnes harvest that year.
===Nutritional profile of sorghum===
Sorghum is about 70 percent starch and a good energy source. Sorghum starch consists of 70 to 80 percent [[amylopectin]], a branched-chain polymer of glucose, and 20 to 30 percent [[amylose]], a straight-chain polymer.
The digestibility of the sorghum starch is relatively poor in unprocessed form, varying between 33 to 48 percent. Processing of the sorghum grain by methods such as steaming, pressure-cooking, flaking, puffing or micronization of the starch increases the digestibility of sorghum starch. This has been attributed to a release of starch granules from the protein matrix rendering them more susceptible to enzymatic digestion.
On cooking, the gelatinized starch of sorghum tends to return from the soluble, dispersed and amorphous state to an insoluble crystalline state. This phenomenon is known as [[retrogradation]]; it is enhanced with low temperature and high concentration of starch. Amylose, the linear component of the starch, is more susceptible to retrogradation.
Certain sorghum varieties contain anti-nutritional factors such as [[tannin]]s. The presence of tannins is claimed to contribute to the poor digestibility of sorghum starch. Processing in humid thermal environment aids in lowering anti-nutritional factors of sorghum.
Sorghum starch does not contain gluten. This makes sorghum a possible grain for those who are gluten sensitive.<ref name=sorghum1/>
After starch, proteins are the main constituent of sorghum. The essential amino acid profile of sorghum protein is claimed to depend on the sorghum variety, soil and growing conditions. A wide variation has been reported. For example, lysine content in sorghum has been reported to vary from 71 to 212 mg per gram of nitrogen.<ref name=fao1/> Some studies on sorghum's amino acid composition suggest albumin and globulin fractions contained high amounts of Iysine and tryptophan and in general were well balanced in their essential amino acid composition. On the other hand, some studies claim sorghum's prolamin fraction was extremely poor in Iysine, arginine, histidine and tryptophan and contained high amounts of proline, glutamic acid and leucine. These variations may be linked to the sorghum variety, soil and growing conditions. The digestibility of sorghum protein has also been found to vary between different varieties and source of sorghum. Digestibility values ranging from 30 to 70 percent have been reported.
A World Health Organization report suggests that the inherent capacity of the existing sorghum varieties commonly consumed in poor countries was not adequate to meet the growth requirements of infants and young children. The report also claims that sorghum alone may not be able to meet the healthy maintenance requirements in adults. A balanced diet would supplement sorghum with other food staples.
Sorghum's nutritional profile includes several minerals. This mineral matter is unevenly distributed and is more concentrated in the germ and the seed-coat. In milled sorghum flours, minerals such as phosphorus, iron, zinc and copper decreased with lower extraction rates. Similarly, pearling the grain to remove the fibrous seed-coat resulted in considerable reduction in the mineral contents of sorghum. The presence of anti-nutrition factors such as tannins in sorghum reduces its mineral availability as food. It is important to process and prepare sorghum properly to improve sorghum's nutrition value.
Sorghum is a good source of B-complex vitamins. Some varieties of sorghum contain ß-carotene which can be converted to vitamin A by the human body; given the photosensitive nature of carotenes and variability due to environmental factors, scientists claim sorghum is likely to be of little importance as a dietary source of vitamin A precursor. Some fat-soluble vitamins, namely D, E and K, have also been found in sorghum grain in detectable but insufficient quantities. Sorghum as it is generally consumed is not a source of vitamin C.
===Comparison of sorghum to other major staple foods ===
The following table shows the nutrient content of sorghum and compares it to major staple foods in a raw form. Raw forms of these staples, however, aren't edible and can not be digested. These must be prepared and cooked as appropriate for human consumption. In post-processed and cooked form, the relative nutritional and anti-nutritional contents of each of these grains is remarkably different from that of raw form of these grains reported in this table. The nutrition value for each staple food in cooked form depends on the cooking method (for example: boiling, baking, steaming, frying, etc.).
{{Template:Comparison of major staple foods}}
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