Current and Future Technologies for Microbiological Decontamination of Cereal Grains.

Abstract

Cereal grains are themost important staple foods for mankind worldwide. The constantly increasing annual production and yield is matched by demand for cereals, which is expected toincrease drastically along with theglobal population growth. Acritical food safety and quality issue is tominimize themicrobiological contamination of grains as it affects cereals both quantitatively and qualitatively. Microorganisms present in cereals can affect thesafety, quality, and functional properties of grains. Some molds have thepotential toproduce harmful mycotoxins and pose aserious health risk for consumers. Therefore, it is essential toreduce cereal grain contamination totheminimum toensure safety both for human and animal consumption. Current production of cereals relies heavily on pesticides input, however, numerous harmful effects on human health and on theenvironment highlight theneed for more sustainable pest management and agricultural methods. This reviewevaluates microbiological risks, as well as currently used and potential technologies for microbiological decontamination of cereal grains.