A Kansas State University professor and a group of graduate students in food sciences are conducting research that could create new food products for individuals with celiac disease while expanding the market for sorghum grown by Kansas farmers.
Celiac disease is a digestive disease triggered by eating gluten, which is found in wheat, rye and barley. It is estimated nearly 1 percent of Americans have the disease, and from 7 percent to 8 percent of the population consumes gluten-free products.
Fadi Aramouni, K-State professor of food science, said the university's research for gluten alternatives began in 2006 when sorghum farmers were looking for alternative uses for the grain — for which Kansas is typically the No. 1. producer — and the manufacturing of gluten-free products started to take off.
"In the United States, (sorghum) was mostly used for feed, but with the growth in the gluten-free market and the availability of food sorghum, we have now started seeing a lot more sorghum used in these types of formulations," he said.
Aramouni said the research "began from scratch" and focused on developing a tortilla made from sorghum. He and the students looked at the six varieties of sorghum grown in Kansas and determined which one they thought would work best. They considered the hardness of the grain, its protein, carbohydrate and fiber content, shelf life, quality of dough, and taste.
"From that first piece of research, we realized there is a lot more to be done at the milling stage of this, because it turns out that the particle size during the milling will affect the properties of the sorghum flour," he said.
Sorghum tends to form a batter rather than a dough, so eggs and additives, such as gums, are mixed in to create the desired structure.
Kathryn Deschenes, a K-State graduate student from Ellsworth who was diagnosed with celiac disease at age 17, was tapped to be a taste tester for the new gluten-free products after meeting Aramouni at a tire shop in 2008.
"We were talking about celiac disease and that's what he said he did his research on," she said "He said he'd be interested in having someone with the disease in his lab as a better taste tester."
Deschenes said gluten-free products of the past didn't taste good and weren't readily available in grocery stores.
"When more products come out, people with celiac disease will pick the higher-quality, better-tasting products," she said. "We will stop buying cardboard-tasting products."
Since 2008, Deschenes has changed her major from journalism to food science and is now part of Aramouni's research team, which includes food science graduate students Ashley Pruett, of Atchison, and Marc Bianchi, of Saleilles, France.
With the help of K-State's grain and science industry department and the U.S. Department of Agriculture laboratory in Manhattan, the researchers have been able to develop tortillas, breads, Belgian waffles and waffle cones from sorghum.
Their research — much of which is funded by the Kansas Department of Agriculture — also includes comparing the glycemic index of their sorghum products to those made of wheat, corn and rice.
The glycemic index measures how a food with carbohydrates raises blood glucose.
"We discovered there possibly could be a specific particle size of sorghum flour that will have the best effect on the glycemic index," Pruett said. "It could provide a lower glycemic index compared to other grains."
For the past three years, the sorghum-based products created by the research team have won first prize in the American Association of Cereal Chemists competition. Those products were Crunchums, popped sorghum with raspberry-jalapeno flavoring; Tisan, a tea flavored with orange and pineapple; and Tropical Pretzel, a multigrain pretzel filled with a mango and walnut mix.
Those wins translate into exposure for K-State's research and sorghum-based products — a Japanese television station did a segment on Crunchums — and more job opportunities for students who are testing and developing products.
"This is not cooking. This is science," Aramouni said.
Currently, the researchers are working on developing soft pretzels, sweet rolls and dinner rolls using sorghum.
"It's important because for people who need to eat gluten-free food, better products are needed," he said.
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