Effect of steam treatments on the availability of various families of secondary metabolites extracted from green sweet sorghum

•Secondary metabolites recovery rates were compared with and without steam explosion treatment.•Fatty acids, flavones and phytosterols were the most abundant groups found in green sweet sorghum.•For most secondary metabolites, a drop of 70% of the recovery rate is observed after steam explosion.•Some high value compounds are still recoverable after steam explosion from green sweet sorghum.•Steam explosion treatment may allow increasing the biomass intrinsic economical value.