Cereal processing

Introduction
Cereal processing and utilization
- Milling
- Uses
  - Human food
  - Animal food
  - Industrial uses
Wheat: varieties and characteristics
Wheat flour
- Milling
- Composition and grade
  - Protein content
  - Treatment of flour
  - Grade
Nonwheat cereals
- Barley
- Corn
- Sorghum
- Oats
- Rye
- Rice
  - Cultivation
  - Milling
  - Nutritive value
- Millet
Other starch-yielding plants
- Cassava
- Soybean
- Buckwheat
Starch products
- Commercial starches
  - Starch from tubers
  - Cornstarch
  - Rice starch
  - Starch composition
  - Processing
- Alimentary pastes
  - Pasta products
  - Semolina
  - Pasta processing
  - Testing
- Breakfast cereals
  - Origins
  - Types of breakfast cereal
  - Flaked cereals
  - Shredded cereals
  - Granular cereals
  - Puffed cereals
  - Enrichment
- Sweeteners

References & Edit History Related Topics

Images

Close-up of mature golden wheat (Triticum aestivum) heads and stalks densely packed in a field.

outer layers and internal structures of a wheat kernel

protein content and uses of wheat varieties

outer layers and internal structures of a corn kernel

Dense field of sorghum plants with green and tan seed heads stretches to the horizon under a cloudy sky.

outer layers and internal structures of a rice grain

Related Questions

About what percentage of milled wheat becomes white flour?
How are cereals used as ingredients in livestock feed?
How are flour grades related to the amount of bran particles left in flour?
How are granular breakfast cereals made from fermented dough?
How are wheat by-products such as bran and middlings used after flour milling?
How are wheat grains used in the production of starch and alcohol?
How can grain respiration cause cereal stocks to heat up in storage?
How do cleaning and fumigation help control pests in grain storage?
How do grooved break rolls open wheat kernels?
How do molds and fungi spoil stored cereals?
How does cereal milling make grain easier to cook and eat?
How does dryeration reduce damage to corn kernels?
How does drying prepare cooked corn grits for flaking?
How does forced-air drying help prepare grain for safe storage?
How does gluten help dough rise during baking?
How does puffing make wheat and rice grains expand?
How does the protein content of wheat affect gluten strength?
How is durum wheat semolina used to make pasta?
How is puffed rice prepared before it enters the puffing chamber?
How is semolina separated from bran during wheat flour milling?
How much of a wheat kernel is endosperm?
What role do smooth reduction rolls play in flour milling?
Which crops are commonly processed as cereal grains?
Which ingredients are added to self-rising flour?
Which parts make up a wheat kernel?
Why are cereal flakes passed between cooled steel rollers?
Why are cereals an important source of energy in human diets?
Why are grain stocks turned over and ventilated in large silos?
Why are hard wheat flours used for breads and yeast-raised rolls?
Why are refined flours enriched with nutrients?
Why are rolled oats processed before they are cooked as porridge?
Why are soft wheat flours better for cakes, cookies, and crackers?
Why are some breakfast cereals enriched after processing?
Why can corn spoil during storage if it is not handled carefully?
Why does suddenly releasing pressure puff cereal grains?
Why does whole wheat flour become rancid sooner than white flour?
Why have gluten-free flours become popular?
Why is corn commonly processed by wet milling?
Why is corn useful in high-energy livestock feeds?
Why is flour collected at several stages during the gradual reduction milling process?
Why is moisture added or removed when wheat is tempered before milling?
Why is rice chaff used as fuel in parts of Asia?
Why is the endosperm separated from bran and germ to make white flour?
Why must animal feed combine cereal grains with protein-rich foods and other nutrients?
Why must cereal grains be kept at low moisture levels during storage?

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Cereal processing

food technology

Written by

Douglas W. Kent-Jones

President, British Industrial Biological Research Association, Carshalton, England. Coauthor of Modern Cereal Chemistry.

Douglas W. Kent-JonesAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Oct. 31, 2026 •History

Cereal processing, treatment of cereals and other plants to prepare their starch for human food, animal feed, or industrial use. Cereals, or grains, are members of the grass family cultivated primarily for their starchy seeds (technically, dry fruits). Wheat, rice, corn (maize), rye, oats, barley, sorghum, and some of the millets are common cereals; their composition is shown in the table. Starch, a carbohydrate stored in most plants, is a major constituent of the average...

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