The fertile flower consists of a thin lemma and thin palea, and inside these the stamens and pistil - the latter developing into the kernel. The lemma may be awned or awnless. When threshes the seed separates from the floral bracts as in wheat. The kernels are small, averaging about 0.66 the weight of wheat grains. Weight of 1000 sorghum grains is mostly between 20 and 30 grams.
Kernels are generally near round to broad-conic in shape.
In protein content, sorghum is higher than corn and about equal to wheat. In fat content it is lower than com but higher than wheat. Kafir sorghums, originally from South Africa, have thick, juicy stems, large leaves, and awnless cylindrical-shaped panicles. Seeds may be white, pink or red and are medium in size. Milo sorghums, originally from East Africa, have stems that are less juicy than in Kafir.