Abstract This study investigated the effects of microwave treatment on the antioxidant and antidiabetic properties of sorghum. Microwave treatment for 10 min significantly improved α-glucosidase and advanced glycation end-products inhibitory activities, reaching approximately 64% and 57% inhibition, respectively. In both normal and insulin-resistant (IR) human hepatocellular carcinoma cell models, microwave-treated sorghum notably increased glucose uptake, hexokinase activity, and glycogen content. While glutathione and malondialdehyde levels showed no significant changes in the normal model, significant differences were observed in the IR model, especially after 10 min of treatment. Analysis of phenolic compounds—including total polyphenols, flavonoids, tannins, and anthocyanins—revealed an increase in free phenolic extract and a corresponding decrease in bound phenolic extract up to 10 min. Starch digestibility analysis also showed an increase in resistant starch and a reduction in rapidly digestible starch and slowly digestible starch after 10 min of microwave treatment. These results indicate that microwave treatment can effectively improve the functional properties of sorghum, supporting its application in the development of antioxidant- and anti-diabetic functional foods.
Jeon et al. (Tue,) studied this question.