The effect of temperature on the modification of sorghum and barley during malting

Comparative studies of germinated sorghum and barley revealed that both cereals developed similar levels of hydrolytic enzymes especially when assessed as total amylolytic activity (diastatic power). The low level of alpha-amylase reported for sorghum is due to the assay procedure and may reflect differences in the properties of respective amylases. High germination temperature increased rootlet growth and beta-amylase development in both sorghum and barley malts. It also increased the alpha-amylase, total soluble nitrogen and extracts developed in sorghum malt but not in barley malt. In both sorghum and barley, alpha-amino nitrogen levels were depressed as the germinating temperature was raised. The peptide release pattern of germinated sorghum and barley were similar at high and low temperatures. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.