Cereals and cereal products

Cereals are one of the major nutrient delivery vehicles all over the world (Serna-Saldivar 2016). They are one of the most popular agricultural products and are regarded as a gift of nature to mankind. Also termed“the staff of life,”cereals constitute a major diet staple in many countries around the world. They account for the most part of the diet in the release of nutrients and energy as lots of them contain majorly carbo-hydrates (Tomićet al., 2019). Cereals including wheat, rice, barley, maize, rye, oats sorghum, millet, buckwheat, teff, amaranth, triticale, and quinoa make up the biggest part of crop production worldwide (FAO 2019). Maize is the most popular cereal in many regions of the world: in Europe, rye, wheat, and barley are popular while millet and sorghum are most known to Africa and India (FAO 2019). Cereals are the world most cultivated plants, globally about 2,342,426 tons were produced in 2007 and about 2,722 million tons in 2018 (FAO 2019). Due to the economic and nutritional importance of cereals to humans, the demand for them and their by-products increases every year.Scientific research focusing on improvement in seed, processing and cultivation methods, increased yield, better storage stability, and so on are constantly being undertaken to improve cereal production (Taylor et al., 2014). The use of biotechnology in the modification of the seeds’ genetic makeup offers a possibility in yield increase, disease resistance, and reduce health risks associated with pesticides and insecticides.