Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench is an under-harvested crop in Burkina Faso. It is
grown mainly for its sweet grains in the pasty stage. However, the precocity of the
cycle and the sweet grains at pasty stage make it an interesting plant with agro
alimentary potential during the lean season. This study was carried out to identify the
main sugars responsible for the sweetness of the grains at the pasty stage and their
variation according to the agro-morphological group and the botanical race. Thus,
the grains harvested at the pasty stage of fifteen (15) accessions selected according to
the agro-morphological group and botanical race were lyophilized and analyzed by
High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). The results reveal the presence
of four (4) main carbohydrates at the pasty stage of grains such as fructose, glucose,
sucrose and starch. Analysis of variance revealed that these carbohydrates
discriminate significantly the agro-morphological groups and the botanical races.
Moreover, with exception of the sucrose, the coefficient of determination (R2) values
shows that the agro-morphological group factor has a greater effect on the
expression of glucose, fructose and starch than the botanical race. Group III and
caudatum race have the highest levels of fructose and would be the sweetest. While
group IV and the guinea-bicolor race with the low value of fructose would be the
least sweet. Fructose is therefore, the main sugar responsible for the sweetness of the
pasty grains of sweet grains sorghum.

:Sorghum, neglected culture, sorghum race, biochemical composition, Burkina Faso