Heritage cereals: historical ingredients in future foods

The project “Sustainable organic bread from heritage cereals: using history to form the future”, financed by Formas - the Swedish research council for sustainable development (project no 2018–02393), is examining potential and management of heritage cereals in comparison to modern cereals. One of the project’s aim is to investigate links between consumer preferences and nutritional quality of heritage cereals. Aiming for solid ground of the project two initial studies were performed; one literature review and one consumer study (Zamaratskaia et al., 2020, Wendin et al., 2020). The narrative literature review included 135 references and the consumer study included 434 respondents.

Cereal-based food products is a large part of the daily diet and throughout history cereals have been an important source of nutrition (Valamoti et al., 2019). The literature review could point out that many varieties of heritage cereal varieties have beneficial nutritional profiles. Further, that consumers have a high acceptance of tastes and flavours of food products based on these cereals. Moreover, heritage cereals have the potential to contribute to improved sustainability and resilience of cropping systems, and indirectly, production and consumption of foods based on heritage cereals have a positive impact on biodiversity. 

In line with the literature review, the consumer study showed positive attitudes towards heritage cereals, and high awareness. Results showed that bread and pasta are the most popular future products based on heritage cereals. The most essential factors for the consumers are taste and flavour, followed by freshness and texture. Health aspects as well as origin of the cereal are also of importance. Most consumers were willing to pay a higher price for heritage cereal products. 

Based upon the results from the review and the consumer study, heritage cereals have the potential to supply the market with alternative products with an attractive cultural background. Due to the unique nutritional value and phytochemical profile as well as appreciated sensory characteristics, there is a potential for heritage cereals to become a part of a healthy diet. Delicious and nutritious products based on heritages cereals have a growing market potential.