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Cereals and Pulses: A Duet of the Mediterranean Diet for a Healthier Future

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Cereal-Based Foodstuffs: The Backbone of Mediterranean Cuisine

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Abstract

The Mediterranean diet (MD) is known to be one of the healthiest dietary patterns due to its plant-based consumption, where vegetables, fruits, cereals (preferably as whole grain) and pulses consumed in high amount and frequency. Besides, MD has been a permanent laboratory for humankind to show the ability to combine pulses and cereals in foods preparation. Mediterranean people consume cereal-pulse based composites for thousands of years in their diet. They have derived many ways to consume them together such as soups, salads, pastas, pilafs, main dishes etc. In this light, this chapter aims to provide the reader an overview on the importance of cereals, pulses and their blends in MD through (1) defining and characterizing the elements of MD; (2) focusing on the importance, composition and health benefits of pulses and cereals in the MD; (3) addressing the applications of cereal-legume based composites in culinary applications; and (4) discussing the challenges and opportunities of cereal/pulse blends for designing new products.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Engineering, University of Mersin, Mersin, Turkey

    Ozge Kurt Gokhisar & Mahir Turhan

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  1. Ozge Kurt Gokhisar
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  2. Mahir Turhan
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  1. Food Safety and Functionality Programme, Food Industry Area, Institute of Agriculture and Food Research and Technology (IRTA), Catalonia, Spain

    Fatma Boukid

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Gokhisar, O.K., Turhan, M. (2021). Cereals and Pulses: A Duet of the Mediterranean Diet for a Healthier Future. In: Boukid, F. (eds) Cereal-Based Foodstuffs: The Backbone of Mediterranean Cuisine. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-69228-5_6

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