Innovative Grain Processing: Trends and Technologies

1. Introduction

Consumers’ desire for a rational and healthy diet has led to an increase in the consumption of grain-based products. The high interest in the use of grain products in food consumption is because they bring together, in a small volume, important amounts of nutrients (proteins, carbohydrates, mineral salts, vitamins) that provide high energy value [1,2]. Also, the use of grain as a raw material for obtaining food products presents economic advantages related to its short vegetation period and ease of transport and storage. Depending on the form in which they are consumed, cereals may be considered functional foods, with health benefits such as cardiovascular system protection and digestion improvement [3,4]. As consumer demand for functional and nutritious food increases, the role of grain in the diet, along with innovative processing techniques, continues to evolve, promising a future with food products that are both nutritious and tailored to specific health needs. This increasing demand is related to growing awareness of the importance of a balanced diet, particularly for addressing health conditions such as diabetes and celiac disease [5].

Diabetes is a chronic disease caused by inherited or acquired deficient or insufficient insulin production by the pancreas. Insulin deficiency causes high concentrations of glucose to be present in the blood, which affects many of the body’s systems, particularly the circulatory and nervous systems [6]. Improving diet is the first measure taken in the treatment of diabetes; the bakery industry can contribute to this by providing various products that can be consumed as part of a hypoglycemic diet [7,8,9,10]. To reduce the glycemic indexes of bakery products, we must increase their resistant starch contents and decrease their total starch contents. Some processes, such as fermentation during leavening or pre-fermentation, the hydrothermal treatment of cereal suspensions, subsequent dough maturation, freezing or chilling, and storage and pre-consumption treatment, may reduce the glycemic indexes of bakery products [11]. Generally, whole grains have a lower glycemic index than refined grains because they contain more fiber and experience a slower digestion process.

Another type of product is gluten-free grain-based products, intended for people who cannot metabolize gluten [12,13]. Gluten is a protein found naturally in grains such as wheat, rye and barley [14]. Due to its varied symptoms, celiac disease is difficult to diagnose. The only treatment for celiac disease is consuming a strict diet that eliminates products that contain gluten [15]. Cereal products and floury foods intended for this population are obtained from gluten-free grains, typically using non-gluten flours. These products use alternative cereals or gluten-free flour sources such as rice, quinoa, buckwheat, corn, millet, amaranth, teff, etc. which have high contents of carbohydrates and essential nutrients but are gluten-free [16,17,18]. However, their use in bakery products is a real challenge due to the role of gluten in bread-making. It is formed during mixing using the gluten proteins of wheat flour. It also influences the rheological properties of the dough, which allow the dough to be modeled, maintain the form received during modeling, and retain gases [19,20,21].

The processing of food products inevitably transforms their physical–chemical characteristics and nutritional value. There are processes that allow for the better assimilation of such products by the human body; however, these process reduce the contents of key nutritional compounds. As a result, there is a need to restore products’ nutritional value; an effective solution is their supplementation with affected nutrients such as vitamins, essential minerals, fibers, essential fatty acids, antioxidants, proteins, etc. [22]. Also, to limit products’ nutritional value loss, different techniques may be used, such as minimal processing, grinding to optimal granulations sizes, extrusion, germination, fermentation, etc. [23].

2. An Overview of Published Articles

Thus, by grinding wheat grains, flour is obtained, traditionally used in the bakery and pasta industries. However, it may be used in other industries such as beer brewing. According to Krstanović et al. [24], different wheat varieties, which vary in terms of hardness and the degree of milling required, produce significantly different wort. A hybrid wheat variety may be needed to produce high-quality wheat beer. Adding different nutrients into wheat flour dough to improve bakery product quality from a nutritional point of view will significantly affect its rheological behavior and the quality of the finished products. The addition of different milling fractions of buckwheat will significantly affect the dough’s rheological properties during mixing and extension and improve bread characteristics. The addition of buckwheat will increase α-amylase activity in composite flours, water absorption, the dough development time, protein weakening, starch gelatinization, storage and loss modulation, dough fermentation parameters obtained via a Rheofermentometer and dough tenacity. Adding rheologically optimum levels of different buckwheat milling fractions of will lead to new bread formulations with higher volume, elasticity and porosity values [25]. To improve bread quality, the possibility of using a sourdough starter obtained from different flours has been discussed. The use of different flours, recipes, rations and fermentation temperatures affect the microbial populations of sourdough dough. Sourdough can be successfully used in a preliminary phase of bread-making, involving increasing the bacteria from the starter culture. Sourdough typically creates semi-finished products with high acidity, which ferment under set time and temperature conditions. In bakery products, the use of sourdough can lead to products with superior volume, crumb elasticity, slicing capacity and flavor characteristics [26,27].

Grain products are one of the most important food products included in the diet food category. They are intended for people with various conditions (diabetes, hypertension, people with gluten intolerance, etc.), as well as for those who are healthy but have certain nutritional needs. The use of different non-gluten flours, such as baobab flour (Adansonia digitata L.), buckwheat flour (Fagopyrum esculentum), rice flour, and quinoa flour, may lead to high-quality bakery products. Also, the use of some ingredients, such as sea buckthorn, protein isolate, different types of legumes flours (lentils, lupine, chickpeas, peas), pea powder, yeast powder, almond powder, and spirulina powder, will increase the nutritional value of cereal food products. A product with an improved nutritional value was developed by Netreba et al. [28]. This product was a foamy confectionery product with pomace powder formed by musky squash and artichoke syrup. Adding up to 15% pomace powder from musky squash to the foam confectionary product’s recipe gave it good sensory characteristics and texture parameters. It was concluded that the use of pumpkin pulp in the foamy confectionery product’s recipe improved its biological value and sensory characteristics, as well as its shelf life.

These studies collectively highlight significant trends in grain processing, aiming to improve the quality of finished food products.

3. Conclusions

It can be concluded that in the last few decades, grain processing has experienced significant development due to scientific progress; this progress has included the development of biotechnologies, the improvement of technological processes used in grain processing, and the transfer of knowledge through fundamental and applied research. Future grain processing will be improved due to the need for healthier and more sustainable food products. Advances in food processing, especially through fermentation and heat treatments, have further improved the rheology and quality of grain-based products. By incorporating alternative flours and functional ingredients, the industry can create food products that not only meet nutritional needs but also have enhanced sensory characteristics and shelf lives.