The malting quality of Sri Lankan sorghum was studied using seventeen varieties. These varieties represented four colour categories (brown, yellow, pink and white) of sorghum found in Sri Lanka. The main criteria used for the assessment of malting quality in this study were the malting loss, diastatic power, liquefying power and the quantity of extract. Malting losses of these varieties were somewhat higher than those encountered in malting barley. However, they appeared to depend partly on the malting conditions. The diastatic powers and liquefying powers observed in this study were inferior to those observed with barley malt. However, with some varieties they appeared to be adequate for the purpose of mashing, as indicated by the high extract values obtained, which were comparable with those of some barley malts. Extract values of the four colour categories varied considerably and the best values were observed with the yellow and pink varieties and some varieties of white. Brown varieties in spite of their comparatively high diastatic powers and liquefying powers gave very little or no extract on mashing.

Seventeen strains of yeast, isolated from samples of fermented coconut palm wine (toddy) by direct plating, were characterised and identified using both biochemical and morphological characteristics. The yeasts belonged to five genera : Saccharomyces (10 strains), Pichia (two strains), Torulopsis (two strains), Canrlida (two strains) and Wirigea (one strain). The predominant species were Saccharomyces cerevisiae (four strains) and Saccharomyces exiguus (four strains).