This lipidic fraction can be extracted to obtain rice bran oil (RBO), a high value-added product with unique health properties as a result of its high concentration in -¦Ã oryzanol, a powerful antioxidant mixture of bioactive molecules.
What is rice bran oil?
Rice bran contains up to 25% of rice bran oil (RBO), depend-ing on the rice variety, milling process, and stabilization sys-tem. RBO is produced and consumed in great quantities in Asian countries, such as India, Japan, China, Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia.
What is commercial rice bran?
Commercial rice bran is usually a mixture of these two rice by-products . This fraction possesses an extraordinary quantity of nutritive compounds, such as fibers, fats, proteins, vitamins (vitamin E and B complexes), and antioxidant mol-ecules. It contains 10 ¨C23% of oil, which is usually extracted using a solvent .
How is oil accumulated in rice bran?
The oil in rice bran is accumulated in organelles, which are called lipid bodies. These organelles are surrounded by a phospholipid monolayer, which contains a group of structural proteins named oleosins. Enzymes can help to disrupt this envelope by allowing oil to migrate outside the cell.