Cereals processing technology

4.9 Future trends
Biotechnology, cereal and cereal products quality 71
Biotechnology is likely to have a major impact on the value of cereal production
both by increasing productivity and by improvements in product quality. The
improved productivity is likely to result initially from the removal of biotic
stress constraints associated with major pests and diseases. Herbicide resistance
is an option that is likely to be able to achieve early adoption and success.
Improvements in grain quality are likely to be generally more difficult to
achieve. The major attraction of biotechnology is the possibility of introducing
totally new or novel characteristics into cereals that will result in products with
characteristics outside the range of those currently available. A major limitation
to the introduction of such characteristics is the requirement of cereals to be
compatible with existing processes of cereal food production. Market resistance
to products requiring new processing techniques will come from the large
investment that may be required to develop new processing facilities. Improved
methods of quality control and analysis of product identity and purity will
enhance the value of cereal products. Adverse consumer attitudes are also a
significant risk if transgenic products are not well designed and marketed.
4.10 Sources of further information and advice
Key books
The following books are sources of further information:
Cereal grain quality. R J Henry and P S Kettlewell (eds) Chapman and Hall,
London 1996.
Principles of cereal science and technology. Carl Hoseney. American
Association of Cereal Chemists, St Paul, Minnesota 1994 (2nd edn).
Practical applications of plant molecular biology. R J Henry. Chapman and
Hall, London 1997.
Kent’s Technology of Cereals (4th edn) N L Kent and A D Evers. Woodhead,
Cambridge 1994.
Improvement of cereal quality by genetic engineering. R J Henry and J A
Ronalds (eds) Plenum, New York 1994.
Agri-Food Quality. An interdisciplinary approach. G R Fenwick, C Headly, R L
Richards and S Khokhar (eds) The Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge
1996.
Applied Plant Biotechnology. V L Chopra, V S Malik and S R Bhat (eds) Science
Publishers, USA 1999.
Alternative End Uses of Barley. D H B Sparrow, R C M Lance and R J Henry
(eds) Royal Australian Chemical Institute, Melbourne 1988.
Major trade/professional bodies
American Association of Cereal Chemists. St Paul, Minnesota.
International Association for Cereal Science and Technology (ICC). Vienna.