Valorization and functionalization of cereal-based industry by-products for nutraceuticals

Cereal and cereal-based products represent an important resource for food and feed purposes. From the cultivation of cereals to its processing and consumption of the end-goods, substantial amounts of by-products and food wastes are generated. Such by-products encompass the residual materials from cereal cultivation, cereal fractions from milling, as well as from the agri-food industries. Dry and wet milling products and co-products, and baked, pasta and breakfast products, breakfast cereals and baby food, snack products, malt, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages are examples of products from the brewing, starch, and baking industries. Cereal by-products are known to be composed by numerous valuable compounds with technological and commercial interest, for instance, dietary fibers, carbohydrates and sugars, minerals, proteins, antioxidants (such as polyphenols and vitamins), among many others. Nutraceuticals can be classified into three groups as herbal (B-glucan, ascorbic acid, quercetin, luteolin, cellulose, gallic acid, pectin, lycopene, lignin, cap-saicin, A-tocopherol, A-carotene, selenium, zeaxanthin etc.), animal (conjugated linolenic acid, eicosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, sphingolipids, choline, lecithin, calcium, selenium, zinc, creatine etc.), as well as microbial ( Saccharomyces boulardii, Bifidobacterium bifidum, B. longum, B. infantis, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Streptococcus salvarius , etc.). This chapter focuses on the current state-of-the-art on the valorisation and functionalization of cereal-based by-products and food wastes from agriculture and cereal-based industries, resorting to innovative biotechnological processes, and specifically with application in nutraceuticals, viz. in dietary supplements and food additives.