Effect of accelerated aging on maize, sorghum, and sorghum meal

Accelerated aging at 50 °C significantly affected the physical and chemical properties of sorghum and maize. Aging caused associations between starch granules, protein matrix, and cell walls. During aging, floury areas of the endosperm became more corneous; as the endosperm hardened, strong associations between starch and protein developed, causing the endosperm to fracture through endosperm cells instead of along cell walls, which is common for non-aged maize. Aging significantly decreased the pasting viscosity of starch, molecular solubility at 85 °C and the molecular weight of solubilized starch. Solubility of albumins and globulins decreased while solubility of proteins extracted by a reducing agent and/or in alkaline pH increased during aging. Decreased solubility and functionality of starch and protein in aged grain appear to be due to protein oxidation.