cereals and cereal products

Introduction

Cereal is the most important food grain which is needed by every country in the world and the production is also grown worldwide. Rye, barley, oat, sorghum, and millet are different types of grain whose production is also done by different countries. Most important products are rice and wheat which are produced in half of the countries in the world. To build the health of humans important nutrients such as fiber, protein, and carbohydrate are found in the cereal some important micronutrients such as vitamin E, vitamin B, zinc, and magnesium are also found in cereal as it is used as the raw material to make the cereal products.

Discussion

Preservation of Cereal and Cereal Products

Cereals are fully covered in bacteria, yeast, microorganism, and mold which need to be preserved within a well maintained and effective barrier to stop them from rejuvenating when grains are harvested.  Currently, there are several methods of cereal preservation. First method to be mentioned is to dry the cereal, drying them to reduce the content of moisture by less than 14% to stop the growth of the microorganism. Another method is to preserve the grains around less than 10 degrees celsius. Storing the cereal in an atmosphere full of carbon dioxide in a container is mentioned to be the third method. Next method may be to treat the cereals by using organic acid, urea, caustic soda, and different chemicals. Preservation of chemicals is one more method. It is to be mentioned that using chemicals in cereal may be costly and not so friendly that customers might not like the idea of chemical preservation for cereals. Another method should be using the anaerobic or the absence of the oxygen treatment. Microorganisms do not carry any reaction with the nitrogen to create any kind of destructive reaction with the cereal. This kind of method can be used but only for a short period.  Small amounts of cereal can be stored in small bags or pouches of nitrogen filling. 

Area Production and Productivity of Cereals

Cultivation of different cereals depends mostly on the economy, soil, rainfall, skills of the farmers varies in the countries. Grains or cereal are counted in the grass family cultivated well for their dry fruits which are starchy. Oats, corn, rye, sorghum, rice, and some millets are usual cereal. Three most important among all the other food grains are rice, maize, and wheat. Those three food grains provide more than half of the total calories required for a human. In the whole world China, India, and Nigeria are the producers of most of those food grains but India is the largest producer of food grains. Nigeria’s area for production is 15.5 Million hectares for rice 11.4 %, wheat 0.29%, sorghum 36.7%, millet 27.4%, and maize 23.9% respectively. India has an average area for cultivation is 99.7% Million where 42.71%for rice, 25.7% for wheat, 25.7% for sorghum, and 13.43% for millet respectively. The average productivity of rice was 2.81 tons/ha in the year 2021 which was the highest among all other grains in the case of India. 

Storage of Cereal Grains and Their Products

Grains or cereals are stored to conserve the production for future purposes and consumption with no loss of the grains. Choosing the economical storage type of the cereals has a great impact on the periods of the cereals under the different conditions of the climate, types of the grains, and facility for the transportations. There are mainly five types of storage used in the cereal preservation process, those are stated as bulk storage, bag storage, underground storage, storage in the sheds, and silos storage. Bulk storage: Cereals stored in the bulk and preserved for further usage. Both in the horizontal and vertical warehouses, the bulk stack of cereals is properly leveled, and possible to store more grains. Underground storage is possible to keep grains for many years by keeping them cool and alright for the future. Sometimes the grain in the sides and top are found to be moldy but this method keeps the grain no contact with the air. In this method polythene, apron, and so on are used. Bag storage is used when the cereal amount is less to store but for a long-term period.  Rice, legume, and flour are stored in bags, especially cereal which is not suitable to store in bulk, this type of storage keeps it cool. Sheds for the usage used by companies that handle the bulk but it required site preparation very carefully, labor to carry large tops of the machinery same for the silo storage. 

Conclusion 

Cereal and cereal production is very much important for a human living so the preservation and the storage of the cereal. Different types of cereal need different types of atmosphere which depend on the country’s condition. Choice of the suitable storage and preservation method is also most important. Choosing the wrong methods can result in deterioration of the food grains by chemical, biological factors or by physical so suitable storage and preservation methods are required. In the cereal industry , among all the storage methods such as bulk method, bag method, sheds methods the most preferred techniques are stored in the silo.