Chemical Composition of Cereals and Their Products

Humans have a history of cultivating cereal crops and utilizing their grains to prepare various types of food for thousands of years. The most popular cereal products available in the market include bread, cookies/biscuits, cakes, pasta, noodles, and extruded snacks and breakfast cereals. They are an important part of our daily diets and provide energy and essential nutrients for human health. Cereal grains contain starch and protein as the major components and lipid, non-starch carbohydrates, phytic acid, vitamins, and minerals as the minor components. Physical interactions and chemical reactions occur between these constituents during the processing and storage of cereal products, which determine their quality, storage stability, and nutritional value. With an increasing population of people suffering from celiac disease, diabetes, obesity, and other metabolic syndrome, there are opportunities and challenges for the food industry to develop healthier cereal products through utilizing novel ingredients and improving processing technologies. This book chapter offers a good review of chemical compositions of different cereal grains, processing technologies applied to produce various cereal foods, and future trends of research and product development in this area.