Rice

Rice, Oryza sativa, replaces all other cereals in tropical countries as the staff of life and
dominates the economic and social structure. Over half the world’s populations find rice as an
indispensable food.
The plant originated somewhere in Southeastern Asia, but it has spread to every warm region of
the world. The history of rice and the history of China are closely tied. Rice was first cultivated
in China with records going back further than 2,000 B.C.

Rice Characteristics

Rice is a large annual grass that grows to a height of from 2-4 ft. Instead of bearing an ear, rice
produces a panicle, an inflorescence composed of a number of fine branches, each terminating in
a single grain surrounded by a husk. In this condition it is known as paddy.
There are three types of races:
– indica type – long-grain; dry and separate
– Japonica or sativa – short grain soft and slightly gleuy
– Javanica – equatorial plane, gleuy

Uses of Rice

Rice is used mainly as a food by over half the world’s population. It needs to be supplemented
by legumes or some other food rich in proteins. The polished rice, which reaches the world
markets, is much less nutritious, but its use is widespread. Rice hulls and rice polish are valuable
as livestock feed.

World production and trade of rice

Rice is the staple in the diet for much of the world. It runs a close second to wheat in its
importance as a food cereal in the human diet. About 670 Million Metric Tons of rice are grown
annually compared to 680 MMT for wheat, 440 MMT for oil seeds, and 1090 MMT for coarse
grains (corn, sorghum, barley, oats, rye, millet and mixed grains). Most coarse grains go into
animal feed where its impact on the human diet is not as great (eight lbs. of grain are needed to
produce one lb. of beef). Rice produces more food energy per acre than other cereal grains, and
rice production has more than doubled in the last 40 years.

Of the 680 MMT produced almost 50 percent is grown and consumed in China and India. The
leading producers of rice, are (in order) China, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Thailand,
Burma, Philippines, Brazil, Japan and the United States. The United States produces about 6
MMT, or about one percent of the world’s supply.

In the case of rice only 5% is traded. The United States has historically exported about half of its
production, and for many years, the U.S. was the number two exporter of rice in the world
behind Thailand. Today Vietnam is number two and occasionally Pakistan takes the number
three slot (2008-2010).

Rice Milling

For commercial preparation of rice, the impurities are removed and the paddy is passed between
millstones to break up the husk. During these last processes the outer, more nutritive parts of the
grain are removed. The rice polish that is left as a residue is twice as nutritious as the finished
product.

Grain cleaning: The paddy rice is passed through coarse screens to remove all straw, stones,
and other objects that are larger than the rice. The rice passes over fine screens to remove small
weed seed, sand and dirt, stones, and other objects smaller than the rice. Air separation systems
are sometimes used in this process.

Destoning: The rice is passed through a specific gravity table that separates the product by
density. Stones are separated from the rice.

Husking: This is most often done by passing the rice through two spinning rubber roles. One roll
is spinning faster than the other. The rubber rolls are tightly pressing against the rice from both
sides and strip the husk off.
Paddy separation: A paddy separation machine that works with specific gravity separates the
light paddy kernels from the heavy brown (husks removed) kernels. The paddy kernels go back
to the huskers.
Broken removal: Milling the rice can yield as many as 4 to 40 percent broken kernels
depending on the quality of the incoming rice and the milling equipment. Most high quality rice
is sold with less than 4 percent brokens and so brokens must be removed in the milling process.
The rice is passed through indent graders. These can be cylinders with small pockets too small
for whole grain to fit into, but just right for brokens.

Sorting: The milled whole kernel rice is passed through an electronic sorter to remove defects.
The rice is passed before an electronic eye that detects any difference in color. A jet of air
removes defects. Usually damaged kernels (with black specks), yellow kernels, and stones are
removed. There are special sorters to remove glass from rice.

Magnets: There are usually magnets throughout the milling system to remove metal that can
damage machinery and get into the rice.

Rice Bran Oil

Rice bran oil (also known as rice bran extract) is the oil extracted from the germ and inner
husk of rice. It is notable for its high smoke point of 213 °C (415 °F) and its mild flavor, making
it suitable for high-temperature cooking methods such as stir frying and deep frying. It is popular
as cooking oil in several Asian countries, including Bangladesh,Japan and China.

Bran is an integral part of the whole grain which is removed during processing in order to
produce refined grains. Containing about 15-20% oil (the same general range of soybeans), rice
bran is commercially feasible for oil extraction.
Composition

Rice bran oil has a composition similar to that of peanut oil, with 38% monounsaturated, 37%
polyunsaturated, and 25% saturated.

Health benefits

A medically significant component of rice bran oil is the antioxidant γ-oryzanol, at around 2% of
crude oil content. Also significant is the relatively high fractions of tocopherols and tocotrienols,
taken together as vitamin E. Rice bran oil is also rich in other phytosterols which may provide
health benefits.

Cardiovascular health
Rice bran oil and its active constituents improve blood cholesterol by reducing total plasma
cholesterol and triglyceride and increasing the proportion of HDL cholesterol. Investigators have
noted that these constituents are not only effective in reducing harmful LDL serum cholesterol,
but they also appear to play a role in reducing plaque build-up on artery walls.

Menopause

The rice bran oil component γ-oryzanol was shown in Japan to be effective in relieving hot
flashes and other symptoms of female menopause. Researchers found that 90% of the women
found some form of relief from hot flashes after taking a rice bran oil supplement for 4–6 weeks.
Antioxidant stability

Studies have shown that the antioxidant stability in rice bran oil remains almost constant even
when heated at frying temperatures. The oxidative stability of rice bran oil was equivalent to or
better than soybean, corn canola, cottonseed, and safflower oil in a model system that simulated
deep frying conditions.

UV Light Absorption
Gamma-oryzanol is effective in absorbing ultraviolet light, thereby inhibiting a number of
adverse effects attributed to exposure to sunlight. A number of sunscreen formulations
incorporating oryzanol have been developed and marketed for human use. The use of high-
oryzanol rice bran oil (1% oryzanol) and oryzanol concentrate should be considered in
formulations for the protection of animal coats.

Anti-Cancer activity
A number of minor components in rice bran oil have been found, through controlled studies with
laboratory animals, to exhibit anti-cancer activity. This property may be particularly valuable in
the production of high-end, health-enhancing pet foods.

Extraction Process:

By weight, rice bran has 17% oil content. After the refining process, the refined rice bran oil
weighs only 12% of the rice bran raw material.

The extracting process starts with raw material preparation. Rice bran is first screened. It is then
heated by steam at temperature higher than 100 degrees Celsius to stop Lipase hydrolysis in rice
bran prior to extraction.

Advanced extracting technology and techniques were developed with technical assistance from
German and Belgian engineers in order to come up with Crude Rice Bran Oil that is high in
Vitamin E and Oryzanol. The Crude Rice Bran Oil is forwarded to the refining process for
purifying and packing.