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Question?
Introduction to Cereal Science
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Van Hung
Department of Food Technology
Content of this lecture
• Introduction to cereal science
– Definition
– Classification of cereal grains
– Classification of cereal-based products
• Introduction to the course
– Syllabus
– Lecture content
• Class activities
– Group assignment and discussion
– Testing methods
• What do you understand about cereal and
cereal-based products? Give example?
• Why do you want to learn this course? What is
your expectation?
Objectives
• To introduce cereal sciences: definition,
classification and cereal production, cereal-
based products.
• To introduce the content of the course of
cereal processing technology.
• To arrange the groups of discussion and
presentation.
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Introduction to cereal science Introduction to cereal science

• What are cereals?
– Cereals are all members of the grass family (members of
the monocot families Poaceae or Gramineae)
– They are grown for their seeds (grains) which are high in
carbohydrates and protein
– The water content of the grains is low compared to
other vegetables
– Ceres – Roman goddess of agriculture (in Greek,
Demeter).
– The first cereal grains were domesticated about 12,000
years ago by ancient farming communities in the Fertile
Crescent region.
– Emmer wheat, einkorn wheat, and barley were three of
the so-called Neolithic founder crops in the
development of agriculture.
– Cereals constitute the major source of carbohydrates
for humans and perhaps the major source of protein.
Main cereals include rice in southern and eastern Asia,
maize in Central and South America, and wheat and
barley in Europe, northern Asia and the Americas.

Pseudocereals Grass Plant –

Overall Structure
• Pseudocereals are broadleaf plants
(non-grasses) that are used in much Grass plants have a structure
that is highly distinctive and
the same way as cereals (true cereals
different from most other
are grasses). Their seed can be ground
into flour and otherwise used as plants

cereals.
• Examples of pseudocereals are
amaranth, Love-lies-bleeding, red
amaranth, Prince-of-Wales-feather,
quinoa, and buckwheat.

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Grass Infloresence Structure Classification of cereal grains

Flower

Maize Rice Wheat Barley Sorghum (Milo)

Millet Oats Rye Triticale Fonio

The grass inflorescence consists
[high protein
of a series of bracts (modified cross between
leaves) that enclose the flowers. wheat and rye]

Major Cereal Crops Top cereal products, by individual crops

Corn or Maize – Zea mays (million metric tons) 2013 data
Rice – Oryza sativa 1961 2010 2011 2012 2013
Wheat – Triticum (T. aestivum, T. monococcum, T. durum) Maize 205 851 888 872 1016
Rice 285 703 725 720 745
Barley – Hordeum vulgare Wheat 222 650 699 671 713
Sorghum – Sorghum bicolor Barley 72 124 133 133 144
Oats – Avena sativa Sorghum 41 60 58 57 61
Millet 26 33 27 30 30
Rye – Secale cereale
Oat 50 20 22 21 23
Millets – Eleusine coracana, Pennisetum glaucum, etc. Rye 12 12 13 15 16
Triticale - a hybrid of wheat (Triticum) and rye (Secale) Triticate 35 14 13 14 14.5

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO)

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Top 20 cereal producers Grain – Fruit of the Grass Family

Kernel of wheat
Germination

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Maize
• The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called
kernels.
• Maize constitutes an important source of carbohydrates,
protein, vitamin B, and minerals. As an energy source, it
compares favourably with root and tuber crops, and it is
similar in energy value to dried legumes. Furthermore, it is
an excellent source of carbohydrate and is complete in
nutrients compared to other cereals.
• Maize is a good source of vitamin B and B12. Yellow maize
can provide substantial amounts of vitamin A, and the
maize germ is rich in vitamin E. Furthermore, maize oil
contains a high level of polyunsaturated fatty acids and
natural antioxidants (Okoruwa, 1996). However, of the
three major cereal grains (wheat, maize, and rice), maize
has the lowest concentration of protein, calcium, and
niacin.
Wheat
• Wheat grain is a staple food used to make flour for
leavened, flat and steamed breads, biscuits,
cookies, cakes, breakfast cereal, pasta, noodles,
couscousand for fermentation to make beer, other
alcoholic beverages, or biofuel.
• Wheat is grown on more land area than any other
commercial crop and is the most important staple
food for humans. World trade in wheat is greater
than for all other crops combined.
• The many forms of wheat are white, red wheat,
purple wheat, a tetraploid species of wheat that is
rich in anti-oxidants. Other commercially minor
but nutritionally-promising species of naturally
evolved wheat species include black, yellow and
blue wheat.
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Rice
• The primary cereal of tropical and some temperate
regions, it is the most important grain with regard
to human nutrition and caloric intake, providing
more than one fifth of the calories consumed
worldwide by the human species.
• Comparative nutrition studies on red, black and
white varieties of rice suggest that pigments in red
and black rice varieties may offer nutrition benefits.
Red or black rice consumption were found to
reduce or retard the progression of atherosclerotic
plaque development, induced by dietary
cholesterol, in mammals.
• White rice consumption offered no similar benefits,
and the study claims this to be due to absent
antioxidants of red and black varieties of rice
Barley
 Grown for malting and livestock on land too
poor or too cold for wheat
 It serves as a major animal fodder, a source of
fermentable material for beer and certain
distilled beverages, and as a component of
various health foods. It is used in soups and
stews, and in barley bread of various cultures.
 Barley contains eight essential amino acids.
 According to a recent study, eating whole grain
barley can regulate blood sugar (i.e. reduce
blood glucose response to a meal) for up to 10
hours after consumption compared to white or
even whole-grain wheat.
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Sorghum
• Sorghum is an important food crop in Africa,
Central America, and South Asia, and is the
"fifth most important cereal crop grown in
the world" .
• It is drought tolerant and heat tolerant, and
is especially important in arid regions.
• It is an important food crop, especially for
subsistence farmers. It is used to make such
foods as couscous, sorghum flour, porridge
and molasses.
• Sorghum is the most important ingredient
for the production of distilled beverages,
such as maotai and kaoliang.
Rye
• A member of the wheat tribe (Triticeae)
and is closely related to barley (Hordeum)
and wheat (Triticum).
• Important in cold climates.
• Rye grain is used for flour, rye bread, rye
beer, some whiskeys, some vodkas, and
animal fodder. It can also be eaten whole,
either as boiled rye berries, or by being
rolled, similar to rolled oats.
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Oats
• Formerly the staple food of Scotland and
popular worldwide as a winter breakfast food
and livestock feed
• which is known by the same name (usually in
the plural, unlike other grains). While oats are
suitable for human consumption as oatmeal
and rolled oats, one of the most common
uses is as livestock feed. Oats make up a part
of the daily diet of horses, about 20% of daily
intake or smaller, and are regularly fed to
cattle as well. Oats are also used in some
brands of dog food and chicken feed.
Triticale
• Hybrid of wheat and rye, grown similarly to rye.
• The primary producers of triticale are Poland, Germany, France,
Belarus and Australia.
• The protein content is higher than that of wheat, although the
glutenin fraction is less.
• Triticale has potential in the production of bread and other food
products, such as cookies, pasta, pizza dough and breakfast
cereals.
Wheat Rye Triticale
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Millet Other Crops

• A group of similar but distinct cereals that form an 1. LEGUMES
important staple food in Asia and Africa.  A legume is a plant or its fruit or seed in the family
• They grow in harsh environments where other crops Fabaceae (or Leguminosae).
do not grow well. Improvements in production,  Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for their grain
availability, nutritional content, storage and seed called pulse, for livestock forage and silage, and as
utilization technology for millets may significantly soil-enhancing green manure.
contribute to the household food security and  Fabaceae is the most common family found in tropical
nutrition of the inhabitants of these areas. rainforests and in dry forests in the Americas and Africa.
• Is cereal grain popularly used in rural and poor
people to consume as staple in the form of roti or 2. Classification
other forms is called Ragi in Karnataka or Naachanie  Beans
in Maharashtra, with the popularly made Ragi Rotti  Peas
in Kannada. Ragi Mudde is a popular meal in  Lentils
Southern India.
 Peanut

Legumes Other Crops

• The legumes are all members of a single
plant family, the Fabaceae.
1. TUBER AND ROOT CROPS
• Beans, peas, lentils, soybeans, peanuts,  Tubers and roots are plants yielding starchy roots,
alfalfa, clover, and more. tubers, rhizomes, corms and stems. They are used
• Second only to the grasses in their
mainly for human food (as such or in processed
importance to humans and our domestic form), for animal feed and for manufacturing starch,
animals. alcohol and fermented beverages including beer.
• Every major civilization has been based 2. Classification
on a legume as well as a cereal grain.  Cassava
• Legumes are by definition all members of  Sweet potato
the Fabaceae or Leguminosae.
 Potato
• This is a large family with perhaps 18,000
species.  Edible canna

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Starchy roots and tubers
• Root and tuber crops (cassava, sweet
potato, yams and aroids) are the second
group of cultivated species, after cereals,
in tropical countries.
• They are rich in carbohydrate and are
commonly used as staple, livestock feed,
or as raw materials for the production of
industrial products such as starch and
alcohol, or processed into various food
products.
• Root crops and tuber crops have very
high yield potential although their
protein, mineral and vitamin content are
generally low compared to cereals.
List of Common Starchy Root Crops and Tubers
Root Crops
1. Arrowroot, arrow root, uraro (Maranta arundinacea)
2. Cassava, tapioca, manioc, kamoteng kahoy, balanghoy, balinghoy (Manihot
esculenta)
3. Sweet potato, kamote (Ipomoea batatas)
Tuber Crops
1. Asiatic yam, lesser yam, fancy yam, potato yam, tugi, tam-is, apali (Dioscorea
esculenta, syn.: D. fasciculata)
2. Jerusalem artichoke, sunchoke, lambchoke, French potato, Canada potato
(Helianthus tuberosus)
3. Potato, white potato, Irish potato, patatas (Solanum tuberosum)
4. Yam, ube, ubi, Chinese taro, greater yam, water yam (Dioscorea alata).

Cereal-based products Cereal-based products

• Wheat-based
products • Rice-based products
– Bread – Rice snack foods
– Pasta – Rice noodles, parboiled and quick-cooking rice
– Asian noodle – Canned and frozen rice
– Breakfast cereals – Extruded rice
– Shredded rice
– Baby foods
– Puffed rice cake

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Cereal-based products
• Starch-based products
– Transparent noodle
– Ethanol Syllabus
– Biodiesel
– Etc.

Groups of discussion and

presentation
 5 groups
 Choose one product which you want to develop
 Make 2 presentations (one group/week): The end!
 Presentation 1: Ingredients and processing
technique (one product)
 Presentation 2: Assignment