WHEAT, MILLETS and SORGHUM

WHEAT, MILLETS and SORGHUM

• Wheat (genus Triticum) is the most widely cultivated cereal in the world and its products are very important in human nutrition.
• Bread, usually made from wheat flour, is a popular convenience food.
• Nutrient content: provides a little more protein than does rice or maize, about 11 g per 100 g.
• The limiting amino acid is lysine.
• In many industrialized countries wheat flour is fortified with B vitamins and sometimes iron and other nutrients (folic acid.

WHEAT PROCESSING
• Usually ground and made into flour à”terigu”
• Gluten is the specific protein à flour quality
• The nutrient content depends on the degree of milling, i.e. the extraction rate.
• Low-extraction flours have lost much of their nutrients.
• In some developing countries where wheat is being increasingly used, the bakers have encouraged the trend towards highly refined products, because white wheat flour has better baking qualities.
• Traders also prefer the highly milled product because it stores better.
• Its low fat and vitamin content.

MILLETS and SORGHUM
• Millets and sorghum are cereal grains widely grown in Africa and in some countries in Asia and Latin America.
• Can survive drought conditions better than maize and other cereals, so they are commonly grown in areas where rainfall is low or unpredictable.
• Sorghum requires more moisture than millets but less than maize
• Nearly all contain a higher percentage of protein than maize and the protein is also of better quality, with a fairly high content of tryptophan.
• Also rich in calcium and iron.
• Many varieties of sorghum have a higher protein content than other cereals.
• Usually for making beer