In a world where consumers demand food that is healthy, tasty and convenient to prepare, significant opportunities exist to enhance value in grain and grain based products through cereal chemistry. The Grain Foods CRC (Cooperative Research Centre) is targeting high value grains and grain food products, new ingredients and neutraceutical products, as well as innovative processing and manufacturing technologies. The Centre focuses on improving the quality and scope for Australian grains by combining a genomics and applications/processing approach. Emerging markets for innovative grain food products include health and nutrition and priority is given to healthy grain food products with added therapeutic benefits as well as sources of industrial and pharmaceutical compounds.

Recently the Grain Foods CRC has been working on new fragrant grain foods, exploiting specialised grain fractions as potential food ingredients and bioactives, improving the flavour and colour of pulses, and developing methods to lower glycaemic response in refined cereal foods. Consumer interest in new, tasty healthy and convenient food products, are the drivers of change to more functional foods in the 21st century.