Knowra Sorghum Sorghum Sorghum is a group of cereal grasses cultivated for grain, animal forage, and sweet stalks. Its heat and drought tolerance make it valuable in warm, water-limited regions.
Sorghum bicolor : A widely cultivated sorghum species grown for grain, forage, and syrup. This species supplies most cultivated sorghum grain and includes diverse crop forms.
C4 carbon fixation : A photosynthetic pathway that concentrates carbon dioxide around the enzyme Rubisco before carbon fixation. Sorghum uses this pathway to photosynthesize efficiently in warm, bright conditions.
Sorghum flour : Flour milled from sorghum grain, used in foods including gluten-free baking. Milling turns grain sorghum into a staple ingredient where wheat is unsuitable or unavailable.
Domestication of sorghum : The process by which people selected wild sorghum into cultivated forms, beginning in northeastern Africa. Domestication produced the crop’s grain-bearing forms from wild relatives.
Maize : A cereal grass domesticated in the Americas and grown worldwide for food, feed, and industrial products. Maize often yields more under favorable conditions, while sorghum generally tolerates heat and drought better.
Sorghum panicle : The branched flower cluster that bears sorghum florets and develops into a grain head. Panicle shape and openness vary among sorghum types and affect grain production.
Drought avoidance : Plant traits that maintain water uptake or reduce water loss during dry conditions. Sorghum’s root growth and leaf responses help it persist through drought.
Sorghum beer : Beer brewed with sorghum grain or malt, including traditional African beverages and commercial gluten-free beers. Fermentation is a longstanding food use of sorghum grain.
Sorghum in Africa : The cultivation and cultural history of sorghum across the African continent. Africa is the crop’s center of origin and remains a major region of cultivation.
Pearl millet : A drought-tolerant cereal grass cultivated for grain and forage, especially in arid regions. Pearl millet shares sorghum’s dryland role but belongs to a different cereal lineage.
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