cereals

• Cereal grains are the fruit of plants belonging to the grass family (Gramineae) and provide the world with majority of its food calories and about half of its protein.
• Cereal grains are also a good source of micronutrients such as calcium, iron and vitamins of group B.
• Cereals are plants which yield edible grains and include rice, wheat, corn, barley, and oats.
• Cereals are cultivated for seeds which provide a staple food for humans.
• Cereals encompass a wide range of food items that are produced from seeds of edible grasses or plants.
• The vitreous part of the endosperm lacks air spaces, has polygonal starch granules, and contains protein bodies (P).
• Outer layers of seeds contain indications of cutin (CU), epicarp (EP), mesocarp (M), cross cells (CC), tube cells (TC), testa (T), aleurone layer (AL), peripheral endosperm (E), starch granules (ST), and protein bodies (PB).
• Protein bodies and starch granules can be found within one endosperm cell.
• The opaque endosperm contains many air spaces and spherical starch granules.
• Oat groats have higher fat and protein contents than do other cereals.
• The pericarp, aleurone, starchy endosperm, embryo, scutellum, and endosperm are the outer layers of a sorghum kernel.
• Pearl millet kernels vary in color with slate gray being the most common, although yellow, white and brown varieties are also known.
• Sorghum kernels may be bronze, white, red, yellow or brown.
• Grain sorghum has not been selected or bred as extensively as other cereals, resulting in much diversity in the size, texture, and shape of sorghum kernels.
• The pericarp of pearl millet does not contain starch and a pigmented inner integument.
• The caryopsis of pearl millet is similar to that of other cereals.
• Pearl millet consists of small, tear-shaped kernels (average about 8.9mg) that thresh clean of their hull.
• The aleurone makes up the outer layer of the endosperm of oat groats.
• Unless the lipase is denatured, milled products have a very short shelf life because of the production and subsequent oxidation of fatty acids.
• The opaque endosperm of sorghum has large intergranular air spaces, which are responsible for its opaque appearance.
• Visual determination of hardness or softness in sorghum kernels is based on the assumption that hardness and vitreousness are the same.
• The factors determining vitreousness and physical hardness in sorghum kernels are different, meaning some kernels may appear vitreous but be classified soft by objective measurements.
• Sorghum kernels contain both translucent and opaque endosperm within an individual kernel.
• The endosperm of pearl millet has both translucent and opaque endosperm.
• The outer surface of an oat groat shows hairlike protuberances, or trichomes.
• The germ in pearl millet is large in proportion to the rest of the kernel (17%).
• The terms hard and soft have been used to designate the vitreous and opaque areas of sorghum endosperm as well as the general appearance of kernels.
• Oat groats are also a good source of several enzymes, including lipase, which is very active.
• Sorghum kernels thresh free of hulls or glumes and are generally spherical, ranging from 20-30mg in weight.
• Amylopectin is a randomly branched polymer of α -D-glucose, with a molecular weight of about 100 millions, and 4- 5 % of α -1,6 glycosidic branches.
• The bran is included in WHOLE GRAIN products but is missing in white flour.
• The hard, outer coating on the grain kernel is called the BRAN.
• The high fiber content of rye promotes digestive health, as well as helps prevent a number of illnesses, including heart disease and diabetes.
• Wheat kernels vary widely in endosperm texture (i.e., hardness) and color.
• White flour is made from only the endosperm.
• Starch forms a gel on cooling, and prolonged storage of gels lead to retrogradation (hardening) due to crystallization of amylose to form double helices.
• The germ is the embryo of the plant and contains all of the NUTRIENTS it needs to grow a new plant.
• The aleurone layer surrounds the starchy endosperm and synthesizes most enzymes to digest and mobilize nutrients.
• The germ is present in whole grain products but is missing in white flour.
• The wheat kernel is about 8mm in length and weighs about 35mg, with the kernels of North American wheats averaging about 8mm in length and weighing about 35mg, and European wheats weighing about 55mg.