Cereal Grain Based Functional Foods

Globally, cereal grains are a staple part of the diet providing primarily carbohydrates and other phytochemical components. Detailed coverage of the composition and functionality of the bulk carbohydrate components, specifically starch, beta-glucans, and arabinoxylans, and the trace phytochemical components, i.e. phenolic compounds such as phenolic acids, anthocyanins, deoxyanthocyanins, and proanthocyanidins in cereal grains and grain products is provided. Considerable attention is paid to the interactions between carbohydrate and non-carbohydrate components in grains including starch–protein and starch–lipid interactions and their effects on starch digestibility. The phenolic constituents bound to grain dietary fiber also receive detailed consideration and the final chapter presents a review that discusses whole grain–gut microbiota interactions identifying new areas of research that may contribute to a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms linked to human health. This book provides researchers, clinicians and students with a comprehensive compendium on aspects of whole grain components and brings the literature up to date.

This book volume sheds light on the health benefits of selected cereal grains, processing technologies of cereals, specific roles of bioactive compounds of cereals in chronic disease prevention, and traditional and latest technologies to improve the functional benefits of cereal-based products. It presents a thorough review of the functional components of some lesser known or forgotten cereals and their role in maintaining good health. With advancements in cereal science and technology, new methods of processing have emerged that help to preserve or even enhance the health-benefitting properties of cereal grains. Further, plant breeding and biotechnology have contributed greatly in improving nutritional quality and functionality of these grains. This book provides comprehensive information on the simple as well as advanced methodologies for enhancing the properties of cereals that benefit human health. Some new approaches such as bio-fortification and extraction of bioactives from cereals are also included in the text.

In recent years, consumers are concentrating more on the health benefits of food in order to preserve a healthy lifestyle and therefore becoming more aware of the relationship between diet and disease. This has resulted in a gradual shift from animal-derived to plant-based meals. Functional foods have turned into one of the rapidly expanding areas of the food industry due to the increasing awareness of consumers working to prevent lethal diseases like cancer, diabetes mellitus and cardiovascular disease. Functional foods are seen as the food or food components that manifest efficiency in protecting from diseases and attaining a healthier lifestyle by administering additional benefits on human physiology and metabolic functions apart from basic nutritional requirements of the body. Cereals hold a prominent place in this new market. Cereals and cereal foods are important energy sources and many phytochemicals such as dietary fiber, resistant starch, vitamins, minerals, lignans, phytic acid and phenolic compounds that provide a variety of health benefits. Eating functional cereal foods is an easy method to increase nutrients associated with whole grains without changing eating habits. Functional Cereals and Cereal Foods: Properties, Functionality and Applications comprehensively covers the Chemistry and nutritional composition of functional cereals components, their functionality and therapeutic significance, current innovations and functional approaches in improving attributes and biofortification and quality improvement of cereal products. The different types of functional cereals and their unlimited opportunities for the production of functional foods are covered in full, including gluten-free products and all the newest cereal processing technologies. For researchers in search of a fully up-to-date look at functional cereal foods and technologies and their important place on the current market, this text provides a timely and comprehensive overview.

Cereal grains and their fractions contain many health-protecting compounds such as phytochemicals, vitamins and indigestible carbohydrates, but the texture and taste of functional cereal products can be less than ideal. This important collection reviews technologies for producing a wide range of cereal products with different health-promoting properties and more acceptable sensory quality. The first part of the book discusses the health effects of cereals, with chapters on topics such as whole grain foods, cereal micronutrients and resistant starch. Consumer perception of health-promoting cereal products and regulatory and labelling issues are also described. The second part focuses on technologies to improve the quality of functional cereal products, reviewing issues such as grain improvement, novel cereal-derived ingredients and formulation of low GI products. Chapters dedicated to a wide range of product types are also included, covering cereal foods made from oats, rye, barley and speciality grains and breads fortified with vitamins and minerals, soy and omega-3 lipids among others. Technology of functional cereal products is an essential reference for all those involved in research and development of health-promoting cereal-based foods. Reviews technologies for producing a wide range of cereal products Discusses the health effect of cereals, including whole grain foods and cereal micronutrients Describes consumer perception of health promoting cereal products

Cereal and pulse crops are staple foods that provide essential nutrients to many populations of the world. Traditionally, whole grains were consumed but most current foods are derived from refined fractions of cereal and pulse crops. Consumption of processed or refined products may reduce the health benefits of food. In wheat-based processed foods, for example, the removed 40% of the grain (mainly the bran and the germ of the wheat grain) contains the majority of the health beneficial components. These components, particularly non-essential phytochemicals such as carotenoids, polyphenols, phytosterols/ stanols, and dietary fibers, have been shown to reduce the risk of major chronic diseases of humans, such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and Parkinson’s disease. Such bioactives are therefore good candidates for ingredients of nutraceuticals and functional foods. There are many factors that can affect the bioactive content of cereal and pulse-based food ingredients, including genetics, growing and storage conditions, post-harvest treatments, food formulation and processing. All of these factors ultimately affect human health and wellness. Bioavailability is also important for these compounds for exerting their protective roles. Cereals and Pulses: Nutraceutical Properties and Health Benefits provides a summary of current research findings related to phytochemical composition and properties of cereal and pulse crops. The nutraceutical properties of each major cereal and pulse are discussed. Coverage of cereals and pulse crops includes barley, oats, rice, rye, corn, adlay, wheat, buckwheat, psyllium, sorghum, millet, common beans, field peas, faba beans, chickpea, lentil and soybeans. Chapters for each crop discuss methods to improve crop utilization, nutraceutical components and properties, bioactive compositions, antioxidant properties, beneficial health effects, disease prevention activities, and areas for future research. Also included are two chapters that examine the beneficial health properties of dietary fibers and antioxidants. Edited and written by an international team of respected researchers, this book is a reference guide for scientists working in food ingredients, food product research and development, functional foods and nutraceuticals, crop breeding and genetics, human nutrition, post-harvest treatment and processing of cereal grains and pulses. It will enable them to effect value-added food innovation for health promotion and disease risk reduction.

Wheat and related grasses such as barley, rye, amaranth and quinoa have always been important for foods in Europe, the Levant and the western part of Asia. The food products of these cereals and pseudo-cereals have been mostly produced from white flours, which are milled from whole grains using the conventional milling method. Although the texture and sensory qualities of the products made from the white flours have been improved, the nutritive values of these products have become lower because most of the nutritional compounds such as dietary fibre, resistant starch, vitamins, minerals and microconstituents in the bran and germ have been removed from the white flours. Therefore, the consumption of whole grains has been considered to have many physiological benefits related to "western diseases" such as coronary heart disease, colon cancer and diabetes. Recently, researchers tried to find a good method to prepare foodstuffs containing sufficient amounts of nutritional compounds, especially dietary fibre and minerals. In this book, recent advances in cereal and pseudo-cereal based food researches have been reviewed. New milling techniques have been applied to produce graded flours which contain large amounts of dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals and could be applied for substitution with the conventionally milled flour in bread-making to produce functional food products with high safety, palatability and nutrition. In addition, germination of cereal and pseudo-cereal grains helps to improve the chemical compositions, nutritive values and acceptability characteristics of functional food products. All of this useful information can be seen in this book.

The objective of this book is to provide complete coursed content of functional foods related subjects in ICAR, CSIR and UGC institutions in Food Technology, Dairy Technology, Food & Nutrition, Post Harvest Technology, Agricultural and Food Process Engineering discipline. The book contains fourteen chapters on the topics such as Introduction to Functional Foods, Nutrition for all Ages, Food Fortification, Low Calorie Food, Sports Food, Herbs as Functional Foods, Prebiotics, Probiotics & Synbiotics, Functional Dairy Products, Role of Cereal in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, Functional Components from Fruits & Vegetables, Functional Meat Products, Immunomodulatory Response of Fermented Dairy Products, Consumer Response towards Functional Foods. The content of the book will be helpful for B.Tech, M.Tech, M.Sc. & Ph.D. students of above mentioned disciplines. These topics will also be helpful for the students preparing for ICAR-ARS examination as these provide subjective information of the subject.