INCREASING EPIDEMIOLOGICAL EVIDENCE HAS DEMONSTRATED THAT REGULAR CONSUMPTION OF ADEQUATE AMOUNTS OF CEREAL DIETARY FIBER (DF) AND PHYTOCHEMICALS WHICH ARE CONCENTRATED IN CEREAL BRANS COULD HELP PREVENT AND/OR TREAT A NUMBER OF CHRONIC AND DEGENERATIVE DISEASES. A SIGNIFICANT PART OF THE HEALTH BENEFICIAL EFFECTS HAS BEEN SHOWN TO ARISE FROM MICROBIOTA-MODULATING EFFECTS OF THE KEY INGREDIENTS SUCH AS DF AND PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS IN CEREAL BRANS. HOWEVER, THE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH QUALITY FUNCTIONAL FOODS BY DIRECT INCORPORATING OF RAW CEREAL BRANS STILL REPRESENTS A BIG CHALLENGE PRIMARILY DUE TO ONE OR MORE OF THESE REASONS: 1) CEREAL DF ARE USUALLY POORLY METABOLIZED BY THE GUT MICROBIOTA. IN A HUMAN FEEDING TRIAL, ONLY 34% OF TOTAL NON-STARCH POLYSACCHARIDES IN WHEAT BRAN WERE FERMENTED; 2) 92% OF PHENOLIC ACIDS (MAINLY FERULIC ACID), THE MOSTABUNDANT BIOACTIVECOMPOUNDS IN CEREAL BRANS, ARE EMBEDDED IN CELL WALLS, MAKING THEM DIFFICULT TO BE ABSORBED IN THE HUMAN GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT; AND 3) INCORPORATING HIGH LEVELS OF CEREAL BRANS INTO FOODS RESULTS IN UNACCEPTABLE SENSORY PROPERTIES OF THE FOODS. OUR PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE SHOWN THE MICROFLUIDIZATION PROCESS SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED SEVERAL HEALTH-RELATED PROPERTIES OF CORN AND WHEAT BRANS INCLUDING WATER- AND OIL-HOLDING CAPACITY, ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITY, AND EXTRACTABLE PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS, AND DECREASED THE ROUGHNESS OR GRITTY TEXTURE AND UNPLEASANT FLAVOR OF THE BRANS. OUR PREVIOUS STUDIES ALSO DEMONSTRATED MICROFLUIDIZATION REDUCED PARTICLE SIZES AND LOOSEN MICROSTRUCTURE OF CEREAL BRANS. THIS MAKES MORE CELL WALL POLYSACCHARIDES ACCESSIBLE BY GUT MICROBES AND THEIR ENZYMES AND CONSEQUENTLY INCREASES THE RATE AND EXTENT OF FERMENTATION. THE INCREASED DEGRADATION OF BRAN MATRICES THROUGH FERMENTATION SHOULD FACILITATE THE RELEASE AND BIOCONVERSION OF BOUND PHENOLICS INTO THEIR METABOLITES IN THE COLON. FOR THESE REASONS, IT IS EXPECTED THE USE OF MICROFLUIDIZED CEREAL BRANS AS HIGH-FIBER INGREDIENTS WILL CONSIDERABLY IMPROVE QUALITY OF THE ENRICHED FOODS IN TERMS OF MUCH HIGHER NUTRITIONAL VALUES AND BETTER SENSORY PROPERTIES COMPARED WITH THE USE OF UNPROCESSED BRANS.