Cereals are the basis of human nutrition; they are the food source most intensively produced in the world, surpassing 2000 million tons annually. The production of wheat, corn and rice makes up over the 70% of the total cereal production and thus dominates world agriculture. All 3 cereal crops can determine adverse reactions with different mechanisms of immune-mediated hypersensitivity and thro...

Iron (Fe) uptake in graminaceous plant species occurs via the release and uptake of Fe-chelating compounds known as mugineic acid family phytosiderophores (MAs). In the MAs biosynthetic pathway, nicotianamine aminotransferase (NAAT) and deoxymugineic acid synthase (DMAS) enzymes catalyse the formation of 2'-deoxymugineic acid (DMA) from nicotianamine (NA). Here we describe the identification an...

Reduced levels of leaf chlorophyll content per unit leaf area in crops may be of advantage in the search for higher yields. Possible reasons include better light distribution in the crop canopy and less photochemical damage to leaves absorbing more light energy than required for maximum photosynthesis. Reduced chlorophyll may also reduce the heat load at the top of canopy, reducing water requir...

Page Introduction . 1 Quality of proteins as a factor in nutrition 2 Quantity of proteins in foods and feeds 8 Estimation of protein in foods and feeds , 8 Nonprotein nitrogen in foods 4 Nitrogen content of different proteins ._. 5 Errors arising from tlie use of wrong conversion factors 7 Chemical composition of plant proteins in relation to the plant environment 7 Page Proteins of cereal grai...

The burden of micronutrient malnutrition is very high in India. Food fortification is one of the most cost-effective and sustainable strategies to deliver micronutrients to large population groups. Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) is supporting large-scale, voluntary, staple food fortification in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh because of the high burden of malnutrition, availability ...

Increasing the intrinsic nutritional quality of crops, known as biofortification, is viewed as a sustainable approach to alleviate micronutrient deficiencies. In particular, iron deficiency anemia is a major global health issue, but the iron content of staple crops such as wheat (Triticum aestivum) is difficult to change because of genetic complexity and homeostasis mechanisms. To identify targ...

Cereal grains, such as corn, wheat, rice, and sorghum, are grown and processed into a wide variety of ingredients for animal and human food uses. The focus of this chapter will be on corn and wheat, but other cereals have significance in global processing and human nutrition. For example, rice is grown throughout Asia and the Pacific Rim and is primarily consumed with the endosperm intact. Rice...