The influence of milling on the nutritive value of flour from cereal grains. 6. Sorghum

Low-tannin sorghum was milled into flour with extraction rates between 100 and 64%. The nutritive value of the flours was studied by chemical analyses and in balance experiments with growing rats. The effects of amino acid supplementation was also examined. In general, the content of essential nutrients decreased when the extraction rate was lowered, but the content of fibre, tannins and phytate was also significantly reduced by milling. The digestibility of energy as well as protein was high, but the protein quality was poor, especially in flours of low extraction. Amino acid supplementation improved protein utilization and weight gain considerably. Femur zinc concentration was significantly depressed in the rats fed the amino acid supplemented diets, and sorghum seems to be a poor source of available zinc, in particular when it is highly refined. The poor zinc availability may be attributed to the high content of phytate.