Dr. D.C. JoshiGAYATRI MISHRA2017-12-212017-12-212014-04http://krishikosh.egranth.ac.in/handle/1/5810038000Pop sorghum, like popcorn is a traditional popped snack product, and is very popular in India. Considering the aspect of expandability of sorghum grain and better digestibility of the popped product and more the matter of convenience, an attempt was made to produce popped sorghum in a domestic microwave oven by using suitable pretreatments. In this study, the effect of physical and chemical properties on popping (popping yield and volume expansion ratio) and sensory qualities (overall acceptability) of four different varieties of sorghum, namely Nandel, local Red, Mugad and GJ-42 were studied. Suitable variety of sorghum grain was selected having higher popping and sensory qualities. The selected variety was popped with different pretreatments such as moisture conditioning (12-20% wb), addition of sodium chloride salt (0-2%) and oil (0- 10%). Optimization of pretreatments was carried out using response surface methodology, for a Box–Behnken design at three levels for three parameters. The optimized pretreated sorghum grain was popped at different microwave power densities (9, 12 and 18 Wg-1) and residence times (100, 140 and 180 s) in a domestic microwave oven and from which optimization of microwave process parameters was done to produce better quality of pop sorghum. Mugad variety of sorghum with small grain size, lower sphericity, high bulk density, medium grain hardness, higher pericarp thickness and higher amylose content was found to have the highest popping characteristics. The grain moisture content had significant effect on popping and sensory qualities of pop sorghum. Maximum expansion and yield was obtained at an optimum moisture content of 16.62% with addition of 0.55% sodium chloride and 10% oil. The pretreated sorghum was found to be popped well at higher microwave power densities and the optimized condition was found to be 18 Wg-1 for 140 s.enFood Processing Technology, Bio EnergymethodThesis