Comparative Analysis on Dhurrin Content of Main Sorghum Cultivars in China

The quality of brewing grain is an important guarantee for the flavor and quality safety of brewing liquor. In the process of fermentation, the cyanogen in sorghum grains was decomposed to produce cyanide, which further reacted to produce carcinogen ethyl urethane, which directly affected the safety of liquor brewing. In this study, 173 samples (involving 129 varieties) were collected from 9 major sorghum producing provinces, including Shanxi, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Henan, Sichuan, Guizhou and Shaanxi. The difference of dhurrin content in different varieties of sorghum was analyzed and compared in this study. The results showed that dhurrin was widely present in sorghum, and its content varied greatly among different varieties. Aoza, Heza 158, and Jinza 5 had higher dhurrin content, with the content ranging from 30.26 to 136.7 mg/kg. Hongyingzi, Xiaobailiang, Jipin 12, Langnuohong 19 and Xincang 8 had lower dhurrin content, with all the content less than 1 mg/kg, which were more suitable as raw materials for brewing sorghum. The average content of dhurrin in non-glutinous sorghum was generally higher than that in glutinous sorghum, and the average content of dhurrin in northeast and centra was significantly higher than that in southwest. This study compared and analysed the content difference of dhurrin in different sorghum varieties, in order to provide reference for liquor production enterprises to explore quality raw material source and improve product quality and safety from the perspective of raw material control.