Sorghum

Key findings:

• The new varieties are enhanced with both provitamin A and non-provitamin A carotenoids.
• These varieties also contain a more efficient phytase enzyme, a protein that breaks down phytic acid. This improves the absorption of nutrients from the diet.
• The results show that sorghum made from the strain of this new variety can produce 32 times more provitamin A carotenoids than regular sorghum varieties. 
• New healthier sorghum varieties with significant concentrations of provitamin A carotenoids increase mineral absorption.
• These sorghum lines also contained high concentrations of lutein and zeaxanthin, carotenoids which are important for eye health and brain development.

Key facts about Sorghum:

• It is also called great millet, Indian millet, milo, durra, or shallu, cereal grain plant of the grass family (Poaceae) and its edible starchy seeds.
• The plant likely originated in Africa, where it is a major food crop.
• It is the fifth major staple cereal after wheat, rice, maize and barley.
• It is cultivated worldwide in warmer climates and is an important food crop in semiarid tropical areas of Africa, Asia and Central America.
• In India sorghum is known as jowar, cholam, or Jonna. Different varieties of sorghum range in colour from white and pale yellow to deep red, purple and brown.
• Sorghum is especially valued in hot and arid regions for its resistance to drought and heat.
• It is tolerant to drought because of its root system.
• It performs better than maize during drought and occupies areas unsuitable for maize in stress-prone semiarid areas.
• It is tolerant of salinity and to some extent to waterlogging for a short period. It is sensitive to frost and to sustain flooding.
• In recent years, there has been a shift in sorghum production from the drier western production areas to the wetter eastern