Compilation
Sorghum notabile

A heterogeneous race, low-yielding but grown for its grain which is eaten, brewed into beer, and fed to stock. Baking trials under an United Nations programme using a 50:50 mixture of wheaten and millet flour produced an acceptable loaf, and bread containing 40% millet flour is now commercially sold in the Chad area. It is well-received, long keeping and with a good flavour (1, 3).Many strains have sweet stems which are chewed. Attempts to grow such strains as a commercial source of sugar have not been successful because of the difficulty of crystallising the product. The press-cake after extraction of the sugar contains about 10% hard wax (4).The Tenda of SE Senegal consider that the plant is proprietary to men. Its cultivation is precise and a specific terminology has been developed (2). Most of the crop is fermented for beer, the balance being pounded to flour for consumption as gruel or sauce (2). The flour and beer enter into ritual uses (2).