Significance of coarse cereals in health and nutrition: a review

This review assesses the nutritional attributes of coarse cereals and also their utilization as food and as formulated foods. These cereals are laden with phytochemicals including phenolic acids, tannins, anthocyanins, phytosterols, avenenathramides and policosanols. They possess high antioxidant properties in vitro than staple cereals and fruits by different purported pathways. There are also some anti-nutritional factors that may be reduced by certain processing treatments. Several epidemiological studies show that these cereals are helpful in reducing several kinds of chronic diseases like cancers, cardiovascular diseases, type II diabetes and various gastrointestinal disorders. Being coarse in nature, they cannot replace our staple cereals, but can be used in different proportions with rice and wheat to formulate various nutritional products. They can be used to make porridges, biscuits, cakes, cookies, tortillas, bread, probiotic drinks, ladoo, ghatta, flakes and several fermented foods. The coarse cereals also have good potential in manufacturing bioethanol, paper, oil and biofilms.