Germinated brown rice as a value added rice product: A review

Abstract

Rice is a staple food for over half of the world's population. Germinated brown rice (GBR) is considered whole food because only the outermost layer i.e. the hull of the rice kernel is removed which causes least damage to its nutritional value. Brown rice can be soaked in water at 30 °C for specified hours for germination to get GBR. Soaking for 3 h and sprouting for 21 h has been found to be optimum for getting the highest gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) content in GBR, which is the main reason behind the popularity of GBR. The intake of GBR instead of white rice ameliorates the hyperglycemia, boosts the immune system, lowers blood pressure, inhibits development of cancer cells and assists the treatment of anxiety disorders. Germination process could be used as enzymatic modification of starch that affects pasting properties of GBR flour. GBR would improve the bread quality when substituted for wheat flour. It is concluded that GBR has potential to become innovative rice by preserving all nutrients in the rice grain for human consumption in order to create the highest value from rice.

Keywords: Brown rice; Gamma-aminobutyric acid; Germinated brown rice; Health benefits.