Comparison of Free Flavonoids and the Polyphenol Content in the Bran of a Newly Developed Sorghum Variety and Two Commercially Available Sorghum Varieties

Background/Objectives: Sorghum bicolor is a source of many bioactive components, such as polyphenols. Those components are present mainly in its bran, often removed in industrial processes through decortication. In that sense, this work aimed to analyze the polyphenol content, especially free flavonoids, from the bran of a newly developed variety compared to other commercially available varieties. Methods: The samples were white sorghum TDN® Sorgho, red sorghum Mini Sorgho, and the newly developed red sorghum RILN-156. First, decortication was conducted to obtain the bran samples, which were triturated and then sieved. The use of colorimetric methods allowed the general quantification of the polyphenolic components. First, the polyphenol content was extracted using 70% methanol. Then, the samples’ total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, total tannin content, total anthocyanin content, and antioxidant potential were determined. To analyze the different components and identify the free flavonoids, an untargeted metabolomics analysis (with liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometer (LC/MS) and capillary electrophoresis coupled with a mass spectrometer (CE/MS)) was performed. Results: The results have shown that apart from anthocyanin and tannin, the newly developed variety, RILN-156, presented the highest concentration of polyphenolic content, including a higher antioxidant capacity. The exploratory analysis identified 19 flavonoids within the samples, with galangin and daidzein being the most abundant ones. Conclusions: These results show a promising finding for using this newly developed sorghum variety (RILN-156) industrially and further investigating its health benefits. They also elucidate the differences between colored sorghum within themselves and with white sorghum varieties.