New Insights Into the Use of Cereals and Pseudocereals in Fermented Beverages: Trends, Challenges, and Innovations

Abstract

Nowadays, cereals and pseudocereals are crucial in producing fermented drinks, conferring their nutritional, functional, and sensory properties. This review considered the transition from the traditional grains (i.e., barley, wheat, rice, and maize) to pseudocereals (i.e., buckwheat, quinoa, and amaranth) and hybrid cereals (i.e., triticale and tritordeum), induced by the demand for the gluten-free, nutritious, and sustainable foods. The aims of this review include assessment of their compositional benefits (e.g., proteins, fiber, and antioxidants), technical challenges (e.g., enzymatic limitations and process scalability), and innovations (e.g., enzyme-catalyzed processing, extrusion, and artificial intelligence-based optimization) to improve brewing efficiency and the quality of the final products. As novel grains open up the market potential and promote the health and sustainability trends, assessing the technological challenges, such as raw material heterogeneity and enzymatic flexibility, presents challenging tasks for industrially viable deployment. Such emerging strategy options can redefine brewing procedures, enable innovation, and meet consumers' demands.