Indian Journal of Agricultural Biochemistry

Sorghum is a millet with good nutrient potential that can be used in daily meals and snacks. Popping is a secondary processing method that makes the food more digestible and palatable. The present study deals with optimizing popped parameters and assessing various techno-functional and nutritional contents of the optimized product. The traditional salt roasting method was used for popping. For optimization, the Box-Behnken design of resource surface methodology was used by adjusting the moisture added (0.2-2 mL), popping temperature (220-260°C), and popping time (20-60 seconds), to obtain the maximum popping yield, expansion ratio, and overall acceptability of the product. The results showed that the ideal popping can be achieved at a temperature of 243.6°C, 1.36 mL moisture/10 gm sorghum grain, and 37.7 seconds of popping time, providing a popping yield of 86.28%, 0.864 expansion ratio, 7.325 overall acceptability. The techno-functional properties of the developed products were evaluated. And it was found that the colour, water absorption capacity and oil absorption capacity was improved significantly after popping, whereas the bulk density decreased significantly. FTIR spectra showed that the main constituent of sorghum flour was starch, followed by protein lipids and phenolic acids. The nutrient analysis showed that protein was 9.1±0.2%, carbohydrates were 76.4±1.68%, fat was 1.3± 0.05, and crude fibre was 1.72± 0.01%. The mineral profile (Fe, Zn, Mg, Cu) was improved after popping. The total phenolic content and antioxidant potential increased significantly after popping. Further it was found that the protein digestibility and starch digestibility were improved after popping. The final products were superior quality sorghum pops with a good aroma, flavour and overall acceptability.