NUTRITIONAL CHANGES DURING CEREAL STORAGE AND ENVIRONMENT CONTROL

Abstract

Cereals are popular foods consumed as part of a healthy lifestyle due to their beneficial nutritional content, such as fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals. Local cereals like corn, millet, and sorghum have the potential to be developed as breakfast cereal products with nutritional content that is not inferior to wheat. Cereal storage is critical in the food supply chain because it can cause nutritional changes and deterioration of quality due to oxidation reactions, enzymatic activity, microbial growth, temperature, humidity, and environmental exposure. During storage, there may be a decrease in fat, fiber content, and changes in carbohydrates and proteins, as well as the formation of off-flavor and toxic compounds. To maintain the nutritional quality of cereals, it is necessary to control factors such as temperature, humidity, oxygen, light, and contamination through appropriate packaging, the addition of antioxidants, and processing technologies. In addition, natural preservatives such as plant extracts, modified atmosphere packaging, vacuum packaging, and low-temperature drying can also be used as an environmentally friendly quality control strategy.