New trends in cereal-based products using lactic acid bacteria

Abstract

The global importance of cereals to human diet and, moreover, to the history of civilization, in particular agriculture, cannot be overstated. Nutritionally, cereals are an important source of dietary proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins E and B-complex, iron, trace minerals, and fiber. Major cereal crops produced worldwide include wheat, rice, maize, rye, and barley, their main application being in bread manufacture (20–106kg per capita annually). Only wheat and rye are suitable for the elaboration of leavened bread because of the presence of sufficient amounts (8%–14%) of the complex protein gluten. Other common uses of cereals are in the preparation of fermented traditional products, such as Ogi (maize, millet, or sorghum), Kenkey (maize), and Gari (cassava root), as well as drinks. In these fermented cereal-based products, different species of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) belonging to the genus Lactobacillus, Leuconostoc, Weissella, Pediococcus, Lactococcus, Enterococcus, and Streptococcus are involved. Lactic fermentation improves food quality not only by enhancing flavor development and increasing the nutritional value of food but also by extending their shelf life and by removing toxic and anti-nutritional factors. Cereals have become suitable substrates for innovation in the market for functional foods containing prebiotics and/or probiotic LAB strains.