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Abstract
Whole grain cereals have been the basis of human diet since ancient times. Due to rich in a variety of unique bioactive ingredients, they play an important role in human health. This review highlights the contents and distribution of primary functional components and their health effects in commonly consumed whole grain cereals, especially dietary fiber, protein, polyphenols, and alkaloids. In general, cereals exert positive effects in the following ways: 1) Restoring intestinal flora diversity and increasing intestinal short-chain fatty acids. 2) Regulating plasma glucose and lipid metabolism, thereby the improvement of obesity, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, diabetes, and other chronic metabolic diseases. 3) Exhibiting antioxidant activity by scavenging free radicals. 4) Preventing gastrointestinal cancer via the regulation of classical signaling pathways. In summary, this review provides a scientific basis for the formulation of whole-grain cereals-related dietary guidelines, and guides people to form scientific dietary habits, so as to promote the development and utilization of whole-grain cereals.
Disclosure statement
The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Funding
This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 31800290, 32072220, 31770382, 82072718), the Key Projects of Shanxi Applied Basic Research Program (No. 201801D111001), Science and Technology Innovation Project of Colleges and Universities in Shanxi Province (No. 2019L0027), Project of the Central Government Guiding Local Science and Technology (No. YDZX20201400001436).