THE TORTILLA MAKING PROPERTIES OF 2 IMPROVED MAICILLO CULTIVARS FROM HONDURAS

Grains of two improved maicillo hybrids (Sorghum bicolor (L) Moench) a nd their criollo (Landrace) counterparts grown at two farmsites in Hon duras were lime-cooked and processed into table tortillas. Kernels fro m the criollos were less dense and softer than kernels from the improv ed cultivars. The improved maicillos had straw or red plant and glume colors while the criollos were less dense and softer than kernels from the improved cultivars. The improved maicillos had straw or red plant and glume colors while the criollos had purple colored plants with bl ack or purple glumes. The soft textured criollo kernels required less cooking than their harder improved counterparts. Nixtamals cooked to c ontain 53-55% moisture were the most suitable for processing into tort illas. Both improved maicillos compared favorably with Sureno (used as positive control during processing). The criollos produced darker, le ss acceptable tortillas. Masa and tortillas from criollos darkened dur ing lime-cooking especially during baking. All sorghums and their resp ective tortillas had similar chemical composition. The improved maicil los bred in Honduras have a significantly improved plant and glume col or with white pericarp. The sorghum improvement was also observed in t he overall tortilla quality.