Functional Cereal-Based Bakery Products, Breakfast Cereals, and Pasta Products

Functional foods are food products having an additional function beneficial for the consumer, beyond the provision of nutrients. It is common opinion that functional foods should be an integral part of the eating habits of the population they are intended for. Cereal-based products represent a staple food in many cultures; therefore due to their frequency of consumption they represent ideal functional foods. Sweet and savory cereal-based products can be functional for their intrinsic characteristics, or the “functionality” can be conferred through the addition of functional ingredients such as fibers, proteins, bioactive molecules or other ingredients containing them. Commonly, the general acceptability of these products results only little compromised by the addition of functional ingredients, which is another reason of the success of these products as functional foods. An emerging trend is the employ of agro-food by-products for the fortification of cereal-based goods, together with the use of new fibers sources and underexploited grains. This chapter illustrates recent advances in the formulation of functional baked goods such as bread, biscuits, cakes and other cereal-based products, mainly breakfast cereals and pasta. Physical, chemical, nutritional and sensory properties will be illustrated without neglecting the potential effect on consumers’ health presenting the results of in vitro and in vivo studies.