STUDIES ON MALTING CONDITIONS FOR SORGHUM

Three temperature regimes, 55 degrees C, 55/65 degrees C and 65 degrees C, were used to kiln green malts of three varieties of sorghum, produced from grains steeped for different periods at 30 degrees C. Maximum reducing sugar values for KSV (563 mg/ml), FFBL (5.89 mg/ml) and CHAKARA (5.57 mg/ml) sorghum varieties were obtained from malts of grains steeped for 20 h and kilned at 55/65 degrees C. The percentage malting losses decreased with an increase in reducing sugar and the least malting loss was recorded in 20 h-stepped grains. The non-reducing sugar values varied with the kilning temperature and the variety of sorghum. The percentage moisture content of malt in all the varieties increased with reducing sugar and differed with the kilning temperatures. Kilning at 55/65 degrees C generally produced malts of the highest percentage moisture content (9.0-13.5%). The percentage protein content of the malts increased with steeping time at all kilning temperatures.