Traditional Malian Solid Foods Made from Sorghum and Millet Have Markedly Slower Gastric Emptying than Rice, Potato, or Pasta

Abstract

From anecdotal evidence that traditional African sorghum and millet foods are filling and provide sustained energy, we hypothesized that gastric emptying rates of sorghum and millet foods are slow, particularly compared to non-traditional starchy foods (white rice, potato, wheat pasta). A human trial to study gastric emptying of staple foods eaten in Bamako, Mali was conducted using a carbon-13 (13C)-labelled octanoic acid breath test for gastric emptying, and subjective pre-test and satiety response questionnaires. Fourteen healthy volunteers in Bamako participated in a crossover design to test eight starchy staples. A second validation study was done one year later in Bamako with six volunteers to correct for endogenous 13C differences in the starches from different sources. In both trials, traditional sorghum and millet foods (thick porridges and millet couscous) had gastric half-emptying times about twice as long as rice, potato, or pasta (p < 0.0001). There were only minor changes due to the 13C correction. Pre-test assessment of millet couscous and rice ranked them as more filling and aligned well with postprandial hunger rankings, suggesting that a preconceived idea of rice being highly satiating may have influenced subjective satiety scoring. Traditional African sorghum and millet foods, whether viscous in the form of a thick porridge or as non-viscous couscous, had distinctly slow gastric emptying, in contrast to the faster emptying of non-traditional starchy foods, which are popular among West African urban consumers.

The Impact of Germination on Sorghum Nutraceutical Properties

“…Epidemiological evidence has reported that the replacement of sorghum by maize as a staple food of the diet has raised the incidence of squamous carcinoma of the esophagus in black people of South Africa [ 58 ]. Recent human trials have reported that traditional Malian foods made from sorghum have exhibited slower gastric emptying than rice, potato, or pasta, suggesting that sorghum improves the glycemic response [ 59 ]. In addition, a study comparing gut microbiota of children in the village of rural Africa with the gut microbiota of Western European children has reported a higher microbial richness and biodiversity in rural African children than in European children, indicating that diet is partly responsible for these positive/beneficial effects [ 60 ].…”

Sorghum Grain: From Genotype, Nutrition, and Phenolic Profile to Its Health Benefits and Food Applications

“…Sorghum porridge has also been shown to improve the glycemic response. Porridge made of decorticated sorghum grain was reported to have significant slower gastric emptying rate, which was more than two times longer than other main staple foods of rice, potato, and pasta (Cisse et al., ).…”

Millet-based supplement restored microbiota diversity of acute undernourished pigs

“…It has attracted specific attention on account of the excellent nutritional value and potential health benefits such as anti-oxidant and anti-arteriosclerotic possibility [13,14]. Several studies have shown that millet, as a kind of functional food, is playing an unignoring role in maintaining homeostasis of blood glucose [15,16], delaying gastric emptying [17,18], and enhancing immune competence. Clinical studies by Dewey and Ganmaa et al have shown that dietary intervention can promote good absorption of nutrients and prevent or improve malnutrition [19,20,21].…”