ABSTRACT
Cereal grains are consumed as the primary source of energy by most humans. Consumption of whole/ unreˆned cereal products is known to contribute signiˆcantly to health and chronic disease prevention. Whole cereal grains contain nutritionally signiˆcant quantities of dietary ˆber, as well as various minerals and vitamins that are important for health. More recent evidence also indicates that cereals contain signiˆcant quantities of phytochemicals, like antioxidants and phytoestrogens, which may signiˆcantly contribute to reported health beneˆts of whole grain consumption. In most cases, these beneˆcial compounds are concentrated in outer layers (bran) of the grain (Table 2.1). Unfortunately, modern grain milling methods remove most of these compounds with the bran to produce reˆned endosperm fractions that are more appealing to consumers in most food applications.
