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Lactic fermentation of grain sorghum: effect of variety and pretreatment on the production of lactic acid and biomass

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Abstract

Grain sorghum is a viable feedstock for lactic acid fermentation; however, tannins contained in some varieties affect the efficiency of hydrolysis and fermentation. This work objective was to assess the effect of pre-treatment of grain sorghum on the production of lactic acid and biomass after fermentation. Sorghum varieties with low, medium, and high tannins were pretreated, enzymatically hydrolyzed, and fermented with Lactobacillus casei. The pre-treatments consisted of cooking the grains in lime, cooking in plain water, and no treatment (control). Pretreated sorghum flours were hydrolyzed using thermostable α-amylase from Bacillus licheniformis and amyloglucosidase from Aspergillus niger. Lime pre-treatment showed a significant improvement in protein content, digestibility, and lactic acid production after fermentation, in relation to the non-treated samples. Although differences were not significant for low and medium tannins, lime treatment increase lactic acid production for the cooked-in-lime high-tannin sorghum in relation to the control. For this sorghum/treatment combination, the lactic acid production was 138 g/L, with a volumetric productivity of 1.57 g/L·h and 85/100 g yield based on initial starch, which is equivalent to 69 g of lactic acid per 100 g of sorghum d.b.

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Acknowledgements

To the United Sorghum Checkoff Program for the financial support to conduct this research.

Funding

The United Sorghum Checkoff Program and the United States Department of Agriculture.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Science, University of Arkansas, 2650 N Young Ave., Fayetteville, AR, 72703, USA

    Delmy Diaz Gonzalez & Rubén Morawicki

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  1. Delmy Diaz Gonzalez
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  2. Rubén Morawicki
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Author DG was responsible for the data acquisition, interpretation of data, and manuscript preparation. The corresponding author, Morawicki, contributed to the experimental design, data analysis, and manuscript preparation.

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Correspondence to Rubén Morawicki.

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Both authors, Diaz Gonzalez and Morawicki, agreed to submit this manuscript.

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Diaz Gonzalez, D., Morawicki, R. Lactic fermentation of grain sorghum: effect of variety and pretreatment on the production of lactic acid and biomass. J Food Sci Technol 59, 1221–1229 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-021-05132-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13197-021-05132-2

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