Due to the increasing interest in sorghum for human nutrition, recent literature reviews highlight its nutrient and bioactive contents, potential health benefits and its ‘gluten-free’ feature. Moreover, a current view of research advances on sorghum-based food products is needed to help both food scientists and industry identify current trends and forward-looking approaches. Studies on homemade processing are still scarce. Thus, this review aimed to provide the latest information regarding the use of sorghum to develop ready-to-eat products or food ingredients based on studies published in the last decade (2012–2022), which then guided discussions on recent advances and prospects. The articles were identified by searching the Elsevier Scopus database. Sorghum has great potential as a functional and sustainable food that can be used in daily meals as a substitute for common cereals like wheat, rice and corn. The studies in the review show that it is possible to process sorghum in a wide variety of ways to obtain ready-to-eat products and ingredients for food products and preparations, such as popping, lamination, extrusion and wet cooking. The studies also show promising approaches to use sorghum in acceptable and nutrient-dense bakery and pasta products, highlighting their gluten-free versions. However, more efforts to make these novel food products available to consumers should be made.

The study aimed to define the ideal proportions of pseudocereal flours (PF) in sensory-accepted gluten-free bread (GFB) formulations. The characteristics of GFB developed with PF (amaranth, buckwheat, and quinoa) were verified through a mixture design and response surface methodology. Three simplex-centroid designs were studied to analyze the effects of each PF and their interactions with potato starch (PS), and rice flour (RF) on GFB’s physical and sensory characteristics, each design producing three single, three binary and six ternary GFB formulations. Results showed that using PF alone resulted in unacceptable GFB. However, the interactions between PF and RF improved the loaf specific volume and the crumb softness and also enhanced appearance, color, odor, texture, flavor, and overall liking. Moreover, the composite formulations prepared with 50% PF and 50% RF (flour basis) presented physical properties and acceptability scores like those of white GFB, prepared with 100% RF or a 50% RF + 50% PS blend (flour basis). Maximum proportions of PF to obtain well-accepted GFB (scores ≥7 for all evaluated attributes on a 10-cm hybrid hedonic scale) were defined at 60% for amaranth flour (AF), 85% for buckwheat flour (BF), and 82% for quinoa flour (QF) in blends with RF.

This study aims to investigate the potential of white and bronze whole-grain sorghum flour to develop gluten-free bread (GFB) with acceptable sensory properties. Two 2² factorial designs, with two central point repetitions each, were used to study the effects of white (WS) or bronze sorghum (BS) flours and water (W) levels on the physical properties, acceptability scores, and proximate composition of GFB. The WS or BS levels ranged from 50 to 100% when blended with potato starch, and the W levels ranged from 100 to 140% (flour weight basis). Independent of the amount applied, GFB formulations containing BS were well accepted (acceptability scores for appearance, color, odor, texture, flavor and overall liking ≥ 6.29 on a 10 cm hybrid hedonic scale). No significant differences were observed between the acceptability scores of single and composite formulations for all of the evaluated sensory attributes. Moreover, the W levels had no effect on the acceptability of GFB made with BS. Composite formulations prepared with 50 and 75% WS were also well accepted (acceptability scores for appearance, color, odor, texture, flavor, and overall liking ≥ 7.43 on a 10 cm hybrid hedonic scale). However, increased W levels are required in single formulations to increase the scores for texture and overall acceptability. GFB made with 50% and 75% WS/BS can be classified as a source of fiber since the fiber content is higher than 3 g per 100 g, while GFB made with 100% WS/BS can be classified as high in fiber, as the content of this component is higher than 6 g per 100 g. This research highlights the great potential of whole-grain sorghum flours for producing nutrient-dense and acceptable GFB, which is important for consumers who choose or must adhere to a GF diet.

Dehydrated integral forage palm cladode flour (FPF) presents a promising nutritional and functional approach to enriching fettuccine-type pasta. This study investigated the use of microwave-dehydrated FPF (at 810 W) as a partial wheat flour substitute (0, 5, 10, 15, and 20% w/w) in fresh and dry fettuccine-type pasta. The thermomechanical properties of flour blends and the technological and sensory attributes of the resulting pasta were evaluated. FPF displayed a high protein (15.80%), mineral (15.13%), dietary fiber (67.35%), and total soluble phenolic compound (251 mg EAG·100 g⁻¹) content. While water absorption (~58%) and dough stability remained consistent across formulations, a decrease in maximum torque during heating was observed (p < 0.05). Fettuccine-type pasta containing 10% FPF exhibited an acceptable optimal cooking time, solid loss, weight gain, and textural properties for both fresh and dry pasta. Sensory evaluation revealed acceptability above 63% for pasta with 10% FPF, with a slight preference for the fresh version. Fresh pasta flavored with garlic and extra virgin olive oil (garlic and oil pasta) achieved a sensory acceptance rate of 79.67%. These findings demonstrate the potential of FPF for fettuccine-type pasta production, contributing desirable technological characteristics and achieving acceptable sensory profiles.