**1. Introduction**

Cereals are grass-like crops cultivated for its grains consumption which comprises of endoderm, germ and sperm. The world top seven (7) most important cereal includes maize, wheat, rice, barley, sorghum, oats, and rye. Globally, world production of cereals grain varies from maize (1, 116.34), wheat (764.49), rice (495.78), barley (156.41), sorghum (57.97), oat (22.83) to rye (12.17) million metric tons, and these accounts for over 60% of the world food consumption [1]. Over the years, research has shown that consumers of food products are more concerns about diet and diseases relationship rather than satisfying abdominal emptiness [2, 3]. Cereal grains contain an array of nutritional and bioactive compounds such as dietary fiber, protein, carbohydrate, vitamins, minerals, β-glucan, lignans, phytosterol, phenolics among others [4]. These compounds have been shown to exhibits a positive effect on diseases management and improved healthy living.

Epidemiological studies have shown that constant intake of cereal grains rich in dietary fiber protects the human body from cardiovascular diseases such as

hypertension and diabetes [5–7]. Likewise, studies conducted in the United States shows that consumer of cereal whole grains are at 20–40% reduced risk of cardiovascular diseases compared with non-consumer across all age group [8–10]. Jensen et al. [11] reported on a 14 years' research over 42, 850 male subjects aged between 40 and less than 80 years. They concluded that consumption of cereals wholegrains is attributed subjects' healthier lifestyle compared with other non-consumer subjects'. Therefore, this review focus on the dietary constituent, processing and applications of cereal grains as a vehicle for improved healthy living.
