Cereal grains are the most important food staples for human beings and livestock animals. They can be processed into various types of food and feed products such as bread, pasta, breakfast cereals, cake, snacks, beer, complete feed, and pet foods. However, cereal grains are vulnerable to the contamination of soil microorganisms, particularly molds. The toxigenic fungi/molds not only cause quality deterioration and grain loss, but also produce toxic secondary metabolites, mycotoxins, which can cause acute toxicity, death, and chronic diseases such as cancer, immunity suppression, growth impairment, and neural tube defects in humans, livestock animals and pets. To protect human beings and animals from these health risks, many countries have established/adopted regulations to limit exposure to mycotoxins. The purpose of this review is to update the evidence regarding the occurrence and co-occurrence of mycotoxins in cereal grains and cereal-derived food and feed products and their health impacts on human beings, livestock animals and pets. The effort for safe food and feed supplies including prevention technologies, detoxification technologies/methods and up-to-date regulation limits of frequently detected mycotoxins in cereal grains for food and feed in major cereal-producing countries are also provided. Some important areas worthy of further investigation are proposed.

The physical modification of starch to produce resistant starch (RS) is a viable strategy for the glycemic index (GI) lowering of foods and functionality improvement in starchy food products. RS cannot be digested in the small intestine but can be fermented in the colon to produce short-chain fatty acids rather than being broken down by human digestive enzymes into glucose. This provides major health advantages, like better blood sugar regulation, weight control, and a lower chance of chronic illnesses. This article provides a concise review of the recent developments in physical starch modification techniques, including annealing, extrusion, high-pressure processing, radiation, and heat–moisture treatment. Specifically, the focus of this paper is on the alteration of the crystalline structure of starch caused by the heat–moisture treatment and annealing and its impact on the resistance of starch to enzymatic hydrolysis, as well as the granular structure and molecular arrangement of starch caused by extrusion and high-pressure processing, and the depolymerization and crosslinking that results from radiation. The impacts of these alterations on starch’s textural qualities, stability, and shelf life are also examined. This review demonstrates how physically modified resistant starch can be used as a flexible food ingredient with both functional and health benefits. These methods are economically and ecologically sustainable since they successfully raise the RS content and improve its functional characteristics without the need for chemical reagents. The thorough analysis of these methods and how they affect the structural characteristics and health advantages of RS emphasizes the material’s potential as an essential component in the creation of functional foods that satisfy contemporary dietary and health requirements.

Insect infestation and microbial, particularly mold contamination, are the major causes of stored grain deterioration during postharvest storage, which results in a significant loss in grain quality and quantity, and the formation of toxic chemicals such as mycotoxins. Pesticides, together with physical protection strategies, have been widely used to control insects and molds in stored grains, but their uses present significant environmental and health problems. This has led to the exploration of safer pesticide alternatives. Essential oils (EOs) are highly concentrated materials extracted from leaves, stems, flowers, seeds, roots, fruit rinds, resins, or barks. They are multifunctional due to their complex chemical composition. Thus, EOs are frequently used for their therapeutic, antimicrobial, odoriferous, and flavor properties in a wide range of products like medicine, cosmetics, and foods. This review provides comprehensive information on the chemical compositions of EOs commonly used in the food industry, factors influencing EO composition, and recent studies on the potential of EOs as alternatives to synthetic pesticides and fungicides for stored grain protection. The relationship between chemical compositions of EOs and their anti-insects and antimicrobial potentials, as well as current approaches/technologies of using EOs for food preservation, are also covered. However, this review also highlights the need for research on the development of feasible and affordable methodologies to apply effective EOs or encapsulated EOs in grain storage settings, particularly for organic grain protection.