Abstract:
Injera, an East African leavened sourdough fermented pancake has remarkable textural
properties despite being made from non-wheat flours. However, teff flour, which produces the
best quality injera, is expensive and limited in availability. The effects of waxy (high amylopectin)
and high protein digestibility (HD) traits in sorghum on injera quality were studied. Eight white
tan-plant sorghum lines expressing these traits in various combinations and three normal sorghum
types were studied, with teff flour as reference. Descriptive sensory profiling of fresh and stored
injera revealed that injera from waxy sorghums were softer, spongier, more flexible and rollable
compared to injera from normal sorghum and much closer in these important textural attributes
to teff injera. Instrumental texture analysis of injera similarly showed that waxy sorghum injera
had lower stress and higher strain than injera from normal sorghum. The improved injera textural
quality was probably due to the slower retrogradation and better water-holding of amylopectin
starch. The HD trait, however, did not clearly affect injera quality, probably because the lines had
only moderately higher protein digestibility. In conclusion, waxy sorghum flour has considerable
potential for the production of gluten-free sourdough fermented flatbread-type products with good
textural functionality
