THE USE OF SWEET SORGHUM AS A SOURCE OF NUTRITIOUS SUBSTANCES FOR HUMAN (LITERATURE REVIEW)

At present many countries are actively working over the use of sorghum in the food industry as juice, syrup, as well as for the production of alcohol and bioethanol. We do not consider the use of sweet sorghum as a sugar substitute in the food industry and a source of renewable energy in Russia. The main purpose of sorghum, until recently, was fodder. Green mass of sweet sorghum can be used to produce green fodder, hay, haylage, silage, grass meal, granules, etc. In terms of nutritional value, sorghum syrup is next best to sugar-containing products from sugar beet, sugar cane, while its cultivation is more economical and its yields are more stable in any conditions of cultivation. Sweet sorghum syrup in its pure form is more easily digested by the human body than in crystals, and may be used in the production of healthy food consumed by everyone including people with diabetes. This allows us to conclude about the relevance of these studies. Thus, the ARC “Donskoy” varieties, harvested in the phase of ‘wax ripeness of kernels’, produced 37–46 t/ha of green mass with 13–16% sugar in the juice of the stems, and the yield of ‘liquid’ sugar was 2.86–3.81 t/ha. In this country sorghum is unfortunately paid too little attention from both science and production. To sow fodder sweet sorghum on 10–20 hectare is not difficult, and the efficiency of such sowing is quite obvious: about 25 tons of seeds of sweet sorghum, about 65 tons of leaves, stems for silage or hay, about 10 tons of food syrup and more than 100 tons of pulp or bagasse used for making high-quality silage can be obtained from 10 hectares. Sorghum syrup is the most valuable product that can be used in the confectionery industry and in the feeding of all animals.