ENHANCEMENT OF AMYLOLYTIC POTENTIAL OF SORGHUM MALTS BY ALKALINE STEEP TREATMENT

The effect of alkaline steep liquor on sorghum maltability was investi gated using three improved Nigeria sorghum cultivars, Germination was for four days at 30 degrees C after steeping under four different regi mes, Grain germinability, root length and malting loss were significan tly (P < 0.001) repressed by steeping in alkaline liquor for all the c ultivars, However, the extent of this repression seemed in all cases s ignificantly dependent on cultivar and steep regime plus their possibl e interactions, Similarly, the development of diastatic enzymes activi ties appeared to be highly significantly dependent on steep liquor, st eep regime, cultivar, plus their possible pairwise and three way inter actions, For ICSV400, highest diastatic power and a-amylase developmen t were attained on steeping grains in alkaline liquor under a continuo us steep regime incorporating final warm steep treatment. Conversely, exposure of KSV8 and SK5912 to a regime incorporating air-resting and final warm steep significantly enhanced diastatic power and alpha-amyl ase development, beta-Amylase activity was in all cases enhanced by al kaline steeping, In fact, beta-Amylolytic activity constituted over 70 % of total diastatic activity in most alkaline steeped ICSV400 malts, However, SK5912 exhibited relatively low hot water extract in spite of the improved amylolytic activity.