REVIEW article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Sustainable Diets
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1666455
This article is part of the Research TopicRevitalization and Sustainable Utilization of Neglected and Underutilized Plant Species (NUS) for Enhanced Human Nutrition and Agroecological ResilienceView all articles
Rye (Secale cereale L.) revisited: nutritional composition, functional benefits, and role in sustainable diets
Provisionally accepted
DAIVA ZADEIKE1,2*
Claire Copperstone3
Olha Aleksandrova4
Derya Özalp Unal5Katarina Šavikin6
Jelena Zivkovic6
Mustafa Güzel7
Hatice KALKAN YILDIRIM8
Ibrahim Ender Künili9
Teodora Ivanova10Özge Özmen11
Filippos Bantis12
Jelena Milešević13
Bálint Balázs14
Sónia Negrão15
Marija Knez13- 1Kaunas University of Technology, Kaunas, Lithuania
- 2Kauno technologijos universitetas, Kaunas, Lithuania
- 3L-Universita ta' Malta, Msida, Malta
- 4Eesti Maaulikool, Tartu, Estonia
- 5Tarla Bitkileri Merkez Arastirma Enstitusu Mudurlugu, Ankara, Türkiye
- 6Institut za proucavanje lekovitog bilja Dr Josif Pancic, Belgrade, Serbia
- 7Hitit Universitesi, Çorum, Türkiye
- 8Ege Universitesi, Izmir, Türkiye
- 9Canakkale Onsekiz Mart Universitesi, Çanakkale, Türkiye
- 10Institut po bioraznoobrazie i ekosistemni izsledvania B'lgarska akademia na naukite, Sofia, Bulgaria
- 11Adana Alparslan Turkes Bilim ve Teknoloji Universitesi, Adana, Türkiye
- 12Panepistemio Dytikes Makedonias, Kozani, Greece
- 13Univerzitet u Beogradu, Belgrade, Serbia
- 14Environmental Social Science Research Group, Budapest, Hungary
- 15University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Rye (Secale cereale L.) is increasingly recognized as a sustainable cereal with significant nutritional, ecological, and economic potential. While previous studies have highlighted its dietary fiber, bioactive compounds, and associated health benefits, this review provides an updated synthesis that integrates recent findings on rye's role in human health, food security, and sustainability. In particular, it emphasizes novel evidence on rye's functional properties, its potential contributions to plant-based dietary strategies, and its economic and social relevance. By consolidating current knowledge and outlining future directions for product development and dietary innovation, this work offers a fresh perspective that extends beyond earlier rye-focused reviews.
Keywords: Rye, wholegrain consumption, Nutrition composition, Health benefits, Non-communicable diseases, sustainability, environment
Received: 15 Jul 2025; Accepted: 01 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 ZADEIKE, Copperstone, Aleksandrova, Unal, Šavikin, Zivkovic, Güzel, KALKAN YILDIRIM, Künili, Ivanova, Özmen, Bantis, Milešević, Balázs, Negrão and Knez. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: DAIVA ZADEIKE, daiva.zadeike@ktu.lt
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.