Posted on 09/13/2010 7:14:20 AM PDT by decimon
Athens, Ga. - A new University of Georgia study has found that select varieties of sorghum bran have greater antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties than well-known foods such as blueberries and pomegranates.
Researchers measured polyphenolic compounds, which naturally occur in plants to help fight against pests and disease, and found that the black and sumac varieties of sorghum have significant levels of antioxidants. Many fruits also contain these compounds, they said, though sorghum bran may prove to be the richest and cheapest source.
“Since most human chronic disease states are associated with chronic inflammation and high oxidative stress, a food ingredient such as sorghum bran could potentially make certain processed foods better for a healthy diet,” said study co-author Diane Hartle, director of the UGA Nutraceutical Research Laboratory and an associate professor in the College of Pharmacy.
Hartle and her colleagues, whose results appear in the current issue of the Journal of Medicinal Food, measured the degree to which extracts from four different varieties of sorghum reduced inflammation in mice. They found that black and sumac varieties showed significantly higher levels of polyphenolic content and antioxidant levels than the two low-tannin varieties tested, which did not reduce inflammation.
The authors found that levels of polyphenolic compounds in the high-tannin sorghum varieties ranged from 23 to 62 mg of polyphenols per gram. For comparison, blueberries contain approximately 5 mg of polyphenolics per gram, while pomegranate juice contains 2 to 3.5 mg per gram.
The U.S. is the largest producer of sorghum in the world. Most of the sorghum grown, however, is a low-tannin variety that is fed to cattle and poultry or used to manufacture ethanol to fuel cars. “High-tannin sorghums can be of greater economy to manufacturers because of the current cost of berry and fruit sources of similar plant-based chemicals,” said study co-author Phillip Greenspan, associate professor in the UGA College of Pharmacy.
High-tannin sorghum bran products have not been available in supermarket foods until recently. The researchers said they hope to generate interest in sorghum bran or its extract as an additive to food and beverages. Sorghum bran extract could be added to a variety of foods and beverages as a liquid concentrate or dried powder. The Great Plains area of the U.S. is the largest worldwide producer of sorghum, and the researchers said that the combination of its low price and high antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties will make it widely useful as an inexpensive and nutritional food additive.
The researchers have already experimented with adding the extract to apple juice to make it an affordable alternative to pomegranate juice and other antioxidant-rich products. “We’re hoping that some company decides to extract this bran and pull these chemicals out and put the extract into a beverage that can help you fight disease rather than promote disease,” Hartle said.
Study co-author James Hargrove, associate professor in the UGA College of Family and Consumer Sciences, added that high-tannin sorghum has more antioxidant phytochemicals than other brans such as rice, wheat and oats, whose phenolic content and antioxidant values are low. He and Hartle said that the use of sorghum can become a way to reintroduce a quality food to many products that now use bleached, refined flour.
“Sorghum bran not only provides the fiber but gives you a real medicinal punch at the same time because it delivers a lot of other chemicals that a berry would give you,” Hartle said.
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Note to editors: For a copy of the study, contact Diane Hartle at dhartle@rx.uga.edu.
make a baby boomer face cream ..it should sell well
Probably like eating sawdust...
fyi, sorghum can be fermented and distilled to produce maotai, which is regarded as one of the china’s most famous liquors.
i prefer the version in taiwan however...
Blueberries are so good, they actually reverse the aging process. The body starts rebuilding it's own nerve cells.
Japan did an antioxidant study on blueberries, strawberries, and spinach. To their surprise, the older rats being fed nothing but blueberry extract became youthful again. The Japanese study was on the net for a short while, then pulled. We tried to order blueberry plants in bulk after that, but Japan had bought out every blueberry plant in the U.S. that year. After that, there was no mention of it from Japan.
If you google "blueberries reverse aging process", you'll find numerous links, but the original report can no longer be found. I printed it before it disappeared, so I do have a copy of it.
Perhaps this will get buried by the corn and wheat industries? I thought sorgum was also used as a sweetener.
Perhaps, but I will gladly eat blueberry pancakes.
Sorghum bran pancakes do not sound as appealing.
VERY interesting information.
I hurt my back several years ago. I thought it had healed, but recently, started having trouble again. I went from hiking 6 miles a day to hardly being able to walk with out pain. Out of desperation, I went to a chiropractor who does physical therapy, hoping he could show me ways to build my back muscles up, or something.
He told me to change my diet to an anti-inflammatory diet. I’ve always been a big vegetable eater, so it’s not been too hard (cutting out salt and sugar, not so easy). It’s only been about 3 weeks. If anti-aging, anti-oxidants and anti-inflammatory properties are all contained in one little blueberry, I’m in. They taste really good, too. Do they have to be fresh blueberries or can dried blueberries work?
hmmmmmmm BTTT
who knew
It would be more useful than blueberries in that it won't be perishable, like fresh blueberries, or its quality be diminished by long term freezer storage. Probably be cheaper for the same amount of antioxidants, as well.
It might also encourage farmers to start growing food for FOOD, again, rather than for fuel.
Is it available in chocolate?
Fresh or frozen (canned has a lot of sugar). Simmer them slowly in their own juices. The juice is important. Do not add water.
There are very few blue/red colored foods. There is an old tale about king Aurthur traveling deep into the woods. He came across an old man sitting on his porch. The man was crying and in great anguish. Aurthur asked him what his problem was, and the man was upset because he accidentally dropped his grandfather while helping him out of bed. Arthur was, of course, confused. What was the secret of his longevity? According to the old man, it was the elderberries growing through out the forest.
Elderberries, like blue berries, also have that blue/red colored juice.
oh great, here come all the sorghum bran drinks.
So does anyone know where one can purchase high-tannin sorghum bran?
We have blackberry bushes where we live. We didn’t get many this year. Had a late snow and a cool, wet summer. We live in AZ, so we’re not complaining.
In summers past, we had so many blackberries we ran out of things to do with them. Blackberries probably have similar properties due to their color.
We’ve got a friend who discovered he’s in the early stages of dementia. His brain is literally shrinking. Doctor said it’s irreversible. I don’t believe that. I’m passing this info on to him. Thank you for posting it!!
There are other foods that are higher in anti-oxidants. Google strawberries for instance.
Added to packaged multigrain bread would be fine with me.
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