A comprehensive review on functional beverages from cereal grains-characterization of nutraceutical potential, processing technologies and product types

Due to growing consumer interest in fitness and wellbeing, foods and beverages with therapeutic and functional qualities are in higher demand. In addition to being significant staple crops and major providers of nutrition and energy, cereals are rich in bioactive phytochemicals with health benefits. Cereal grains offer a lot of promise for processing into functional beverages since these include a wide variety of bioactive phytochemicals such as phenolic compounds, carotenoids, dietary fibres, phytosterols, tocols, gamma-oryzanol, and phytic acid. Despite the fact that a wide variety of beverages made from cereal grains are produced globally, they have received very little technological and scientific attention. The beverages confer replacements for milk made from cereal grains, roasted cereal grain teas and fermented non-alcoholic cereal grain drinks. This review emphasizes on the three primary kinds of functional beverages made from cereal grains. Further, the potential applications and directions for the future related to these beverages are discussed with elaborated processing methods, health benefits and product attributes. Cereal grain-based beverages may represent a promising new class of healthy functional beverages in our daily lives as the food industry gets more diverse.