Coarse Cereals and Legume Grains Exert Beneficial Effects through Their Interaction with Gut Microbiota: A Review

Coarse cereals and legume grains (CCLGs) are rich in specific macro- and functional elements that are considered important dietary components for maintaining human health. Therefore, determining the precise nutritional mechanism involved in exerting the health benefits of CCLGs can help understand dietary nutrition in a better manner. Evidence suggests that gut microbiota play a crucial role in the function of CCLGs via their complicated interplay with CCLGs. First, CCLGs modulate gut microbiota and function. Second, gut microbiota convert CCLGs into compounds that perform different functions. Third, gut microbiota mediate interactions among different CCLG components. Therefore, using gut microbiota to expound the nutritional mechanism of CCLGs is important for future studies. A precise and rapid gut microbiota research model is required to screen and evaluate the quality of CCLGs. The outcomes of such research may promote the rapid discovery, classification, and evaluation of CCLG resources, thereby opening a new opportunity to guide nutrition-based development of CCLG products.