Sorghum is a plant of a family of grasses, still a family with rice, corn and wheat. Sorghum seeds have a high karborhidrat content so that it is used as staple food by more than 500 million inhabitants of the earth. But most of the production of sorghum is used for animal feed.
Sorghum is a food that is still acceptable to people who are allergic to eat wheat products, making it a staple food that is very important in the world. In addition, the high benefits of sorghum for health make it a good alternative food of a kind from other commonly consumed grains or cereals worldwide.
Sorghum is a high source of nutrients, and can be added as a healthy diet high in vitamins such as niacin, riboflavin, and thiamin, as well as important minerals such as magnesium, iron, copper, calcium, phosphorus, and potassium. Even provide nearly half of the recommended daily intake of protein, which is 48%.
Sorghum is included in tropical cereal plants but can grow within a wide range of climates.
This plant has been cultivated widely in all continents. Its main producing countries include the United States, Nigeria, Mexico and India.
The much-cultivated sorghum plant is derived from the Sorghum bicolor species. In terms of utilization known four kinds of sorghum plants. First, sorghum seeds are utilized seeds. Secondly, the sweet sorghum used by her pat. Third, sorghum broom is utilized fiber material. Fourth, sorghum forage that is used biomasanya for animal feed.
Globally sorghum is an important food crop and ranks after wheat, rice, corn and barley. Sorghum is cultivated in many countries and about 80% of plantation area is in Africa and Asia region. World sorghum producers are dominated by the US, India, Nigeria, China, Mexico, Sudan and Argentina.
Sorghum leaves are straight-shaped elongated. The sorghum seed is round with a conical tip, about 2 mm in diameter. One sorghum tree has one fruit stalk that has several branches of fruit.
Currently, sorghum is still used only as the main potential only from the seeds. Other potentials such as roots, leaves, and petiole seeds are only used for potluck and animal feed. Nira sorghum is a product that has an advantage even when compared with sugar cane juice. In fact, sugar cane is a plant with a high enough care or more spoiled than sorghum. Nira sorghum can be used as raw material for making sugar and bioethanol. Almost all parts of the sorghum plant such as seeds, seed stalks, leaves, stems and roots can be utilized.
Sorghum is not a native plant of Indonesia so that genetic diversity is still limited so that the required improvement of plant varieties through plant breeding programs. It is to improve the properties of sorghum that already exists so that it becomes more superior than the original plant. For example, plants become more resistant to pest and disease attacks, produce higher yields, and have better yield quality.
sources : quoted from various articles