Citation: Sejake, T.; Shargie, N.; Figlan, S.; Mofokeng, A.; Tsilo, T.J. Phenotypic Variation of Sorghum Accessions for Grain Yield and Quality Traits. Agronomy 2022, 12, 3089. https://doi.org/10.3390/ agronomy12123089 Academic Editor: Ali Raza Received: 1 November 2022 Accepted: 1 December 2022 Published: 6 December 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). agronomy Article Phenotypic Variation of Sorghum Accessions for Grain Yield and Quality Traits Thulo Sejake 1,2 , Nemera Shargie 1 , Sandiswa Figlan 3 , Alina Mofokeng 1 and Toi John Tsilo 2,4, * 1 Agricultural Research Council—Grain Crops, Private Bag X1251, Potchefstroom 2520, South Africa 2 Department of Life and Consumer Sciences, University of South Africa, Private Bag X6, Florida 1710, South Africa 3 Department of Agriculture and Animal Health, University of South Africa, Private Bag X6, Florida 1710, South Africa 4 Agricultural Research Council—Small Grain, Private Bag X29, Bethlehem 9700, South Africa * Correspondence: tsilot@arc.agric.za Abstract: Millions of people depend on sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) as a staple food crop. Due to the ever-changing climate, more focus should be placed on sorghum as it can grow in environments that are marginal for maize (Zea mays L.) and other grain crops. Identification of unique accessions with desirable phenotypic variations allow plant breeders to use the accessions as parental material in a breeding program. The objectives of this study were to determine the extent of diversity in sorghum accessions based on grain yield and quality traits, as well as to identify accessions with high grain yield. One hundred sorghum accessions were evaluated at Potchefstroom (South Africa) in two consecutive growing seasons. The experiment was laid out in a 20 × 5 alpha lattice design with three replications. ANOVA showed highly significant (p = 0.01) variation among the accessions for all traits. There was a positive correlation (r = 0.209) between starch and grain yield. Seven high-yielding accessions with high protein and seven accessions with high starch were identified. These accessions could be used for improving yield, protein and starch in the grain. Tannin content ranged from zero to 24.40 mgCE/100 mg; 75 accessions were characterized as type I. Seven accessions were characterized as type II, and 18 accessions were characterized as type III. The 100 sorghum accessions were grouped into five distinct clusters that offer a wide range of phenotypic variation for the traits studied. Keywords: crude protein; sorghum bicolor; starch; tannin 1. Introduction In developing countries, especially Africa, millions of people depend on sorghum as an important food crop. Sorghum has a high nutritional value and is one of the main sources of carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, fiber and vitamins. It is traditionally used in various food products [1–3]. In South Africa, sorghum meal is often eaten as a stiff porridge which is referred to as Mabele, and also known as brown porridge [4–6]. Sorghum is adapted to a wide range of environmental and climatic conditions and is known to be drought tolerant. Due to the ever-changing climatic conditions around the world, and also for soils that are marginal for maize and other grain crops, sorghum offers better adaptive opportunities. Increased levels of malnutrition have been reported in some areas in sub-Saharan Africa where the cultivation of crops with good nutritional value can form part of the solution [7–9]. To close the gap between the demand and supply of food with good nutrition, crops with potential adaptation need to be screened and evaluated for traits of interest before the intensive cultivation of genotypes with high yielding potential. Sorghum is one such crop, ranking fifth worldwide, and has the ability to serve as a staple food not only to millions of people, but also to those with gluten allergens and people with Agronomy 2022, 12, 3089. https://doi.org/10.3390/agronomy12123089 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/agronomy