Journal of Cereal Science 95 (2020) 103069

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Journal of Cereal Science

journal homepage: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jcs

Physicochemical changes of starch during malting process of sorghum grain

Miguel E. Oseguera-Toledo a, *, Brenda Contreras-Jiménez a, c, Ezequiel Hernández-Becerra a, b,
Mario E. Rodriguez-Garcia a
a
Departamento de Nanotecnología, Centro de Física Aplicada y Tecnología Avanzada, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Campus Juriquilla, Querétaro, C.P.
76230, Mexico
b
Área de Ingeniería, Universidad del Valle de México, Campus Querétaro. Blvd. Juriquilla no. 1000 A, Santa Rosa Jauregui, Querétaro, C.P 76230, Mexico
c
Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad del Valle de México, Campus Querétaro. Blvd. Juriquilla no. 1000 A, Santa Rosa Jauregui, Querétaro, C.P 76230, Mexico

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The objective of this study was to evaluate the physicochemical changes that occur in sorghum starch during
Malted sorghum malting to determine its potential in the beer industry. The results showed that the physicochemical properties of
Starch amorphous amylose and amylopectin of starch over time are modified during the germination while its crys­
Malting
talline structure is not affected. During the different stages of malting the SEM images showed the progress of the
Rheology
Amylose
enzymatic attack in the starch granule. Germination and the increase in reducing sugars supported amorphous
Reducing sugars starch degradation. The X-ray diffraction pattern confirmed that during malting, the crystalline structure in
starch remained without changes. The pasting profile showed high values for peak and final viscosity, once the
sorghum was soaked and decreasing over the malting process. These changes are associated with starch
degradation and amylopectin debranching, increasing the reducing sugars.

1. Introduction Malting is controlled germination to generate some physical and

Sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] is a cereal member of the
Gramineae, grass family, and a monocotyledonous plant. It is an
important crop in the USA, India, Argentina, Mexico, and Africa (Arendt
and Zannini, 2013). It is the fifth most important crop worldwide,
cultivated in tropical, subtropical, and arid areas in different parts of the
world (Waniska and Rooney, 2000). It is resistant to high temperature
and water shortages; the grains remain dormant in drought, but different
enzymes that participate in the germination process are activated when
they are soaked. Sorghum uses include food for livestock and humans. It
is known as a staple food in many African countries (Dicko et al., 2006).
Different food products such as bread, porridges, snacks, and
non-fermented, and fermented beverages, are made with sorghum
(Anglani, 1998). The proximate composition varies among varieties.
However, it is rich in macronutrients like carbohydrates 50–60%, pro­
teins between 7 and 15% (rich in essential amino acids), and lipids
content between 1.6 and 6%. An amount of 100 g of sorghum potentially
provide about 400 calories, like maize and wheat, but with a higher
content of resistant starch (Dicko et al., 2006). It also contributes to
micronutrients such as some vitamin B complex and minerals such as
potassium and phosphorous.
biochemical changes to obtain fermentable products, which are then
stabilized by drying (Gupta et al., 2010). Malting consists of three stages:
steeping (soaking the grain in water), germination, and kilning.
During steeping, the grains are submerged in water with some pe­
riods of aeration, to increase the moisture and activate important en­
zymes. During this stage, grain moisture content reaches around 45%
(Vinje et al., 2015; Contreras-Jiménez et al., 2019).
The germination stage usually takes between 4 and 5 days,
depending on temperature, moisture, light conditions, and grain. It
consists of rotating the grains at some periods maintaining moisture and
temperature. In this stage, the metabolism is very active, and enzymes
such as hemicellulases, amylases, proteases, oxidases, among others, are
involved. The process is stopped by kilning when the root of the grain
has the same size of the grain (Contreras-Jiménez et al., 2019).
During kilning, there is an initial drying where the grain is exposed to
50 ◦ C, and enzymatic activity decreases. At this point, the moisture of
malt is reduced by up to 12%. A second drying is performed at 85–90 ◦ C
to achieve desirable moisture of 4–5%. This stage is key to stopping the
metabolic activity and maintaining the quality characteristic of malt,
such as the enhancing flavor, aroma, and obtaining a malt with a long
shelf life (Vinje et al., 2015).

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: miguel.osegueratoledo@gmail.com (M.E. Oseguera-Toledo).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcs.2020.103069
Received 9 June 2020; Received in revised form 31 July 2020; Accepted 31 July 2020
Available online 10 August 2020
0733-5210/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M.E. Oseguera-Toledo et al.
The beer industry has increased in recent years. It needs to offer new
alternatives that meet consumer requirements and due to the fermen­
tative capacity of sorghum, it has been considered as potential material
to make beer. As a result, the brewers try to totally or partially replace
the barley malt with other less expansive cereals to reduce costs (Kor­
dialik-Bogacka et al., 2019). Sorghum grain reaches maturity in culti­
vation, then is stored dry, and it enters a dormant period. Likewise, the
hydration of seeds activates the metabolic activities and respiration.
Beta et al. (1995) investigated the changes that occur in nutriment
composition, enzymatic activities of α and β-amylase, and viscosity of
sixteen sorghum cultivars at the end of the malting process. They found
excellent correlations between some study variables. For instance, dia­
static power was correlated to α-amylase and the reduction in pasting
viscosity; and β-amylase was negatively correlated with α-amylase.
Malts with higher dry matter losses were correlated with high germi­
nation energies, high α-amylase activities, and low starch content.
Sorghum has been successfully processed to produce malts by
pneumatic and floor malting methods in Africa, obtaining better quality
malts when conditions such as time, moisture, and temperature are
controlled (Beta et al., 1995).
Demuyakor and Ohta (1992) studied white and red sorghum, using
the micro-malting method and found that the varieties have high dia­
static activities between 55 and 68% of the commercial barley malt,
sustainable amounts of free nitrogen.
Moreover, Djameh et al. (2015) optimized the malting conditions of
sorghum to obtain an alcoholic beverage called Pito. They found that
12.0–12.5 h steeping, 5 days of germination at 30 ◦ C, and drying at 40 ◦ C
were the best conditions to obtain malt to produce Pito evaluating
Diastatic power, extract yield, attenuation limit and free amino nitrogen
were determined.
Red sorghum can be a candidate for industrial malting for brewing
nonalcoholic beverages and low alcohol beverages and can be a poten­
tial vector of phenolics compounds with antioxidant activity (Embashu
and Nantanga, 2019). Germination and fermentation of sorghum have
an important effect on antinutritional components such as phytate,
tannin, and oxalate; that are associated with low protein digestibility
and mineral absorption (Ojha et al., 2017).
Furthermore, un-malted sorghum is also used as an adjunct to brew
beer. Beers produced from 50% malt and 50% polished sorghum are
comparable to control beers in gravity, color, and pH. Variations in
biochemical characteristics of sorghum cultivars influence their malt
characteristics, so it is crucial to characterize any sorghum cultivar
before malting and brewing beer. Also, optimizing conditions for
mashing and fermentation of worts to achieve the desired characteristics
of beer comparable to barley (Owuama, 1999). However, the malts
produced using traditional processes are not characterized, and the
processing stages and conditions are uncontrolled and/or not stan­
dardized. Nevertheless, changes that occur during the malting process in
sorghum have not been studied before.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the physicochemical
changes that occur during the malting process in sorghum grain and
starch to know its potential in beer production.
2. Materials and methods
2.1. Sorghum grains
Grains of sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] were purchased in
a local market in Queretaro city on June 22, 2019.
2.2. Malting process of sorghum grains and sample collection
Malting was carried out as previously described by Con­
treras-Jiménez et al. (2019).
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Journal of Cereal Science 95 (2020) 103069
2.3. Morphological changes of sorghum grains during the malting
The images of grains during the malting process were taken using a
Sony camera (380, 14.2 megapixels, velocity 2.5 fps) to observe the
morphological changes produced during germination.
2.4. Starch extraction
Isolated starch was obtained for all samples collected during
germination, following the methodology proposed by Con­
treras-Jiménez et al. (2019) and Londoño-Restrepo et al. (2018). Sam­
ples were milled with distilled water, filtered in a 100 mesh, kept at 4 ◦ C
for 24 h with distilled water, centrifuged at 3000 rpm for 15 min, and the
clean starch dried at 45 ◦ C for 24 h. After drying, the starch was milled
and sieved through a 100 mesh (150 μm).
2.5. Proximate composition of sorghum grains during the malting process
The chemical composition of sorghum grains and starches during the
malting was obtained according to (AOAC, 2000) methodology, for
moisture (925.10), lipid (920.39), ash (942.05) and protein (920.15)
using 6.25 as a factor to calculate protein content.
2.6. Amylose content
The level of amylose in isolated sorghum starch, soaked, germinated,
and dried malt was determined using a spectrophotometric method
based on the formation of amylose-iodine complex (Juliano et al., 1981).
2.7. Determination of mineral content
The mineral content in isolated sorghum starches, of days 1, 2, and 3,
as well as malt, was measured by ICP- OES (model Thermo iCAP 6500
Duo View). A total of 5 g of sample was converted into white ash by
incineration in a muffle furnace at 550 ◦ C for 5 h. Then 0.1 g of each
sample was digested with nitric acid (Baker 69–70%, 10 mL HNO3); this
step was performed in triplicate. A standard curve was used to convert
the intensity of the emission with elemental concentration.
2.8. Microstructural changes of sorghum grains, flour, and starch during
the malting process by SEM
The changes along the malting process in isolated sorghum starch,
and isolated starches for day 1, 2, 3, and malt were analyzed using a
Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) Model JSM-6060LV at high vac­
uum (JEOL, Tokyo-Japan). In order to avoid damage of the sample due
to power beams, the analysis was done by using a 20 kV acceleration
voltage. The micrographs were taken at 5000X and 1000X.
2.9. Determination of germination power
This parameter is defined as the number of grains that exhibit the
presence of a root, by taking three random samples of 100 grains of
sorghum. Every day the appearance of root and its growth was moni­
tored. Germination regarded when the radicle broke the cell wall and its
end when the pedicel reached two times the grain size. The determi­
nation of this parameter does not include broken and damaged grains.
2.10. Reducing sugars
Reducing sugars were quantified using the dinitrosalicylic acid late
(DNS) method according to Saqib and Whitney (2011), using Perki­
nElmer Lambda 35 spectrophotometer. The measures were compared
using a standard curve prepared with D-Glucose (0–2 g/L) (Sigma
Aldrich).
M.E. Oseguera-Toledo et al.
2.11. Viscosity profiles
Apparent viscosity of isolated starches during malting was measured
with a starch probe in an Anton Paar rheometer model MCR 102
(Austria), using 3 g of starch/18 ml of distilled water. The temperature
ramp used was a follow: heated from 50 to 90 ◦ C, a constant stage at 90
◦
C for 5 min and cooled at 50 ◦ C heating speed of 5.3 ◦ C/min. All tests
were carried out at a constant frequency of 193 rpm (Rincon-Londono
et al., 2016). The pasting profiles were carried out by triplicate.
2.12. X-ray diffraction analysis
Changes in the structure of the isolated sorghum starch, soaked
starch, and along the malting process for 3 days, and malt were analyzed
using X-ray diffraction equipment. The X-ray diffraction patterns were
recorded on a diffractometer (Rigaku Ultima IV, Texas-EEUU) at 35 kV
and 15 mA, with a CuKα radiation λ = 1.5406 Å, from 5 to 35◦ on a 2θ
scale with a step size of 0.01.
2.13. Statistical analysis
The experiments were repeated three times with consistent results.
The data are expressed as the mean ± SD. The data obtained were
analyzed using one-way ANOVA, comparisons between multiple groups
were performed using Tukey’s test, and differences were considered
significant at p < 0.05. The software used was JMP 7.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Changes in proximate composition of sorghum during malting
To measure compounds in the samples at the different malting
stages, a chemical analysis was performed. Sorghum had 5.68 ± 0.03%
protein, 2.26 ± 0.02% lipid, 10.03 ± 0.47 mg/g ash and 13.66 ± 0.31%
moisture. The soaked sorghum 5.78 ± 0.02% protein, 2.02 ± 0.06%
lipid, 9.11 ± 0.04% ash, and 37.16 ± 0.45% moisture. Sorghum of
germination day 1 had 6.12 ± 0.02% protein, 2.76 ± 0.05% lipid, 10.91
± 1.27% ash, and 42.93 ± 0.61% moisture. Sorghum of germination day
2 had 5.79 ± 0.03% protein, 2.32 ± 0.04% lipid, 10.02 ± 0.07% ash and
44.93 ± 0.51% moisture. And sorghum of germination day 3 had 5.22 ±
0.03% protein, 2.02 ± 0.05% lipid, 9.53 ± 1.00% ash, and 45.30 ±
0.51% moisture. Dried malt had 5.81 ± 0.02% protein, 2.26 ± 0.04%
lipid, 9.82 ± 0.40% ash and 13.78 ± 0.21% moisture. During germi­
nation moisture of the grain changed from 13.66% (raw sorghum) to
45.3% (germination day 3). Protein, lipid, and ash are reported as dry
basis.
The crude protein content of sorghum grains varies from 5.4 to
12.9%, and the main storage proteins are mostly kafirins (Eburuche
et al., 2019). The sorghum used for this study has a low crude protein
(5.68%) compared to other cultivars and showed an increment on the
first day of germination (6.12%) that could be due to de novo protein
synthesis. The final malt had 5.81 ± 0.02% of crude protein. Other re­
searchers reported an increase of protein during fermentation of two
varieties of sorghum when this is added with malt (Wedad et al., 2008).
It is possible that since the malting the enzymes could contribute to the
increase of protein and this process continues during fermentation,
doing in both cases sorghum with higher nutritional value. Also, the
lipids showed an increase in the first stage with a reduction on the
second day of germination. This behavior may be related to energetic
consumption. In general, there were no significant differences (p > 0.05)
in ash content during the process. The chemical composition is affected
by genotype, agronomic conditions, growing conditions such as soil,
moisture, temperature, pests, and diseases besides production manage­
ment. After soaking, the moisture increases to 37% necessary for germ
development and the start of metabolism.
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Journal of Cereal Science 95 (2020) 103069
3.2. Mineral content
The mineral content of sorghum was 234 mg/kg of phosphorous, 25
mg/kg of potassium, 74 mg/kg of magnesium, and 19 mg/kg of silicon.
For sorghum malt was 339 mg/kg of phosphorous, 133 mg/kg of po­
tassium, 73 mg/kg of calcium, 92 mg/kg of magnesium, 55 mg/kg of
silicon and 1 mg/kg of manganese. The most abundant mineral during
the malting process was phosphorus being the highest value, 488 mg/kg,
on day 1 of germination and the lowest 195 mg/kg, on day 3 of
germination.
Cereals, along with legumes, are the major sources of minerals in
developing countries, but their bioavailability is low because they are
found complexed with nondigestible material. Moreover, phosphorus is
part of the phytate molecule, inaccessible to digestive enzymes. Malting
and fermentation are used to increase the bioavailability of these min­
erals releasing them from complexes. Malting of sorghum, foxtail, and
chickpea significantly increased sodium, potassium, phosphorus, cal­
cium, and magnesium but decreased calcium and iron (Afify et al.,
2012).
The concentration of magnesium on wort is very important on yeast
growth and metabolism. Magnesium is responsible for the structural
integrity of cell membranes as protection from environmental stress,
osmotic and oxidative stresses, and temperature shock. Magnesium is a
cofactor for many enzymes and especially for enzymes involved in
glycolysis. Magnesium is important in terms of fermentation perfor­
mance resulting in higher fermentation rates and an increase in ethanol
(Kordialik-Bogacka et al., 2019).
Calcium has an antagonistic effect on Magnesium uptake and func­
tion. Magnesium demand is higher than that for calcium. On the other
hand, calcium has a buffering effect on wort and positively influences
beer characteristics (haze formation and foam stability). The mainte­
nance of a consistently low pH reduces the extraction of polyphenolic
compounds that can affect beer color (Gibson, 2011).
3.3. Morphological changes during sorghum germination
After soaking, there are no significant changes to the grain. Never­
theless, on the first day of germination, the pericarp was broken, and a
small pedicel growth was visible. At this point, the nutrient mobilization
starts for the embryo development that occurs through enzymatic hy­
drolysis of the endosperm. Some hydrolytic enzymes are already present
in the aleurone, but most of them are de Novo synthesized. Enzymes are
activated, such as hemicellulase, proteases, etc. (Kok et al., 2019). The
main enzymes involved in starch degradation during germination are
α-amylase, α-glucosidase, dextrinase, and β-amylase. Some hydrolytic
enzymes are already present within the aleurone, but most of the en­
zymes are de Novo synthesized. The main purpose of malting is to
induce the production of reducing sugars by β-amylase, considered the
main hydrolytic enzyme that is correlated with diastatic power (com­
bined action of hydrolytic enzymes including dextrinases, amylases, and
glucosidases) (Vinje et al., 2015).
On the second day of germination, the pedicel growth, and by the
third day, the cotyledon doubled the grain size. At this point, germina­
tion was stopped drying at 50 ◦ C for 24 h and then placed in an oven for
1 h to obtain innocuous base malt.
3.4. Germination power
On the first day, 57% of the grains were already germinated, and on
the second day 91% (Fig. 1 a). Sorghum shows a logistic curve, and
comparing with barley (4 days), it takes less time to achieve total
germination, making it an interesting grain for malting due processing
time (Contreras-Jiménez et al., 2019). This reduction of time can make it
economically attractive to the industry. During soaking, the moisture
changes from 13.66 to 37.16%, and the metabolism activation starts at
this stage. The moisture increase explains the abrupt increase in
M.E. Oseguera-Toledo et al.
Fig. 1. a) Percentage of grain germination of sorghum, b) amylose content, and c) reducing sugars during sorghum malting. Values are means of three independent
experiments ± SD, different letter means they are statistically different (p < 0.05).
germination, up to 57% during the first day.
3.5. Apparent amylose content and reducing sugars
The amylose content for isolated sorghum starch was 32.99 ± 0.65%,
higher than the reported value by Silva et al. (2019), 25.45 ± 0.78%.
Other values for amylose in sorghum starches ranged from 20 to 30%, in
which higher values are closer to the ones found in this research
(Odunmbaku et al., 2018). For the two first days of germination, the
apparent amylose increases up to 37.7%, and for day 3 and dry malt
exhibits an opposite trend (Fig. 1 b). The rise of amylose content could
be due to the debranching of amylopectin by a complex enzymatic ac­
tion (Liu et al., 2019). After day 2 of germination, a decrease in amylose
content could be due to the enzymatic activity on amylose.
The reducing sugar content in flours during malting is shown in Fig. 1
c in which there is an increase due to the enzymatic action in amylose
and debranching of amylopectin. At the end of the first day of germi­
nation, there was a significant increase in reducing sugars, mainly due to
4
Journal of Cereal Science 95 (2020) 103069
the enzymatic activity of starch splitting enzymes. From day 1–2 of
germination, there was no significant difference between reducing
sugars values. It may be due to the consumption of some fraction of the
carbohydrates by the germ to cover metabolism requirements for
growing. From day 2–3, there is another increase in reducing sugars due
to enzymatic activity. The debranching of amylose and hydrolytic ac­
tivity of enzymes could affect the pasting properties. The increase in
reducing sugars is important in the brewing industry due to its impor­
tance in the fermentation stage when yeasts use the sugars to produce
alcohol.
Changes in the apparent amylose must be closely related to the
changes in the reducing sugars.
3.6. Morphological changes in starch during germination
All the sorghum starch samples were white and odorless. SEM results
(Fig. 2) show crushed granules with an irregular polyhedral shape, but
the main form was oval or semi-spherical. These results are according to
M.E. Oseguera-Toledo et al. Journal of Cereal Science 95 (2020) 103069

Fig. 2. SEM images of sorghum isolated starches during malting, soaking a) 5000 X and b) 10000 X, day 1 c) 5000 X and d)10000 X, day 2 e) 5000X and f) 10000,
and day 3 at g) 5000 and h) 1000X. P: Pores; B: Broken granules.

5
M.E. Oseguera-Toledo et al.
Silva et al. (2019) and reported granules with polygonal and spherical or
oval shapes.
During the soaking stage, no changes were observed in the granule
surface (Fig. 2 a and b). On the first day of germination, the presence of
surface pores (P) increases due to the enzymatic attack started by the
soaking process, while some grains are unaffected, showing a smooth
surface (S) (Fig. c and d). On the second day, the granules exhibit
changes in starch granule, increasing the surface pores (Fig. 2 e and f).
Similar behaviors were found during barley germination by Con­
treras-Jiménez et al. (2019). The third day of germination, micro, and
submicron holes increase in the surface, and even some granules were
broken (B) (Fig. 2 g and h).
Native isolated starch is shown in Fig. 3 a and b, starch granules had
a smooth surface, with an occasional surface pores presence. These
characteristics were also observed elsewhere (Benmoussa et al., 2006).
Changes in isolated starches for the dry malt are presented in Fig. 3 b
Fig. 3. SEM images of sorghum isolated starches, native starch a) and b) at 10000X, and malt starch c) to d) at 5,000, 10,000 and 15000X. S: smooth surface; P:
Pores; Broken granules.
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Journal of Cereal Science 95 (2020) 103069
and c took at 10000x and e and f at 15000X. Some granules that were
previously intact, are fragmented or broken by the effect of heating
(Fig. 3 c), produced by the high-water pressure within them (Fig. 3 c and
d). This fact is crucial because it exposes all sugars while preparing the
beer wort.
3.7. X-ray diffraction
Fig. 4 shows the x-ray diffraction patterns of isolated starch obtained
along the malting process from soaking to dried malt. These patterns
exhibited broad peaks that are originated by the nanocrystal sizes of the
α-glucan. The continuous lines of this figure correspond to the index­
ation of the diffracted planes according to the powder diffraction file
“PDF 43–1858” (Quintero-Castaño et al., 2020) that identified an
orthorhombic crystalline structure, this procedure was also carried out
by Londoño-Restrepo et al. (2018). These patterns were normalized for
M.E. Oseguera-Toledo et al.
Fig. 4. X-ray diffractograms of sorghum starches through the malting.
comparative studies and showed that the crystalline orthorhombic
crystalline structure in this starch does not show any change during the
malting process. This is a significant finding and explained how the
starch degrading enzymes do not interact with crystals. During wort
preparation, there are simultaneous fractioning of amylose and amylo­
pectin (amorphous contribution), and solvation of the orthorhombic
crystals during heating in a solvent (water) producing reducing sugars
that contribute to the fermentation process.
It is interesting to point out that the correct identification of a crys­
talline is by the use of a Powder diffracted file, and the indexation of at
least 3 diffracted planes. This procedure corroborated that the crystal­
line structure present in sorghum starch is orthorhombic and does not
exhibit changes during the malting process. Hernández-Becerra et al.
(2020) found that the enzymatic process is selective and does not modify
the crystalline structure of this starch (A-type, orthorhombic), it can be
concluded that the enzymatic attack takes place on the amorphous
component of the starch.
3.8. Pasting properties
The viscosity profiles of isolated sorghum starches obtained along
the malting process, and the flours, are shown in Fig. 5. As it is well
known, the starch constitutes between 60 and 75% of the total sorghum
grain. For the first two days of malting, the pasting profiles of the iso­
lated starch do not exhibit significant changes, on the second day of the
whole flour, there is a drastic decrease in apparent viscosity. Fig. 1 a, b,
and c shows the germination percentage, apparent amylose content, and
reducing sugars. These parameters have a significant change in the slope
after the second day of germination. For day 3, these parameters
increased, and the peak viscosity decreased abruptly, indicating that the
long chains of amylose and amylopectin were fractioned, producing an
increment of reducing sugars and a decrement in the apparent viscosity.
SEM images showed in Fig. 3 corroborate that at the end of the malting
process, starch grains are almost completely broken, and X-ray analysis
showed that the crystalline structure of starch remains without changes
7
Journal of Cereal Science 95 (2020) 103069
along the malting process.
The malted starches and flours exhibit low-end viscosity values. This
behavior explained because of the enzymatic attack on amylose and
amylopectin chains, and by the water with starch crystals interaction
(temperature up to the gelatinization), which solvated α-glucan. It is
equivalent to having a slurry with a high amount of sugars.
Fig. 5 c shows the behaviors of peak viscosity for isolated starches
and flours along the malting process. This figure shows that the main
contribution to the pasting profile is coming from the starches.
During the soaking stage, the apparent viscosities in isolated starches
and flours are higher than the raw material, as it was reported by
Contreras-Jiménez et al. (2019). It is explained by the water diffusion
into the starch granules at the steeping stage. Also, at this stage, enzymes
that are important for starch, protein, and fat modifications are
activated.
During malting, Fig. 5 (a and b) shows that germination produces a
decrease of viscosity as well as drying the malt. During germination,
amylases play an important role in the modification of starch granule
that can also be indirectly observed by changes in viscosity. Amylose
and amylopectin enzymatic attack increase during germination and
viscosity decreases at the same time.
4. Conclusions
The SEM analysis showed that the sorghum starch granules were oval
or semi-spherical with occasional superficial pores with some poly­
hedral shapes. Sorghum starch granules suffered a transformation dur­
ing malting, increasing the superficial pores due to selective enzymatic
activity.
During malting, the enzymes debranched amylose and amylopectin
chains, increased the amount of reducing sugars essential for fermen­
tation, and decreased the peak viscosity.
The X-ray patterns showed that there were no changes in crystallinity
structures in starch during malting (orthorhombic). The results showed
that the physicochemical properties of the amorphous amylose and
M.E. Oseguera-Toledo et al. Journal of Cereal Science 95 (2020) 103069

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