What is rice bran?

Answer 1

Rice bran is the outer layer of the rice and an excellent source of thiamin, niacin, vitamin B-6, iron, phosphorus, magnesium, potassium and fiber (Beras Nasional). It is a by-product of the rice milling process and is either thrown away or used for low-level animal feed each year (Rukunudin et al, 2001). Figure 2.1: Cross section of rice bran Rice bran is a good source of protein and fat and at present underutilized as a food material. The presence of enzyme lipase in rice bran causes rapid deterioration of oil to free fatty acids and glycerol (Prakash, 1996). This is the reason why preserving rice bran for general consumption was not feasible and has a little commercial value. The potential of producing rice bran at the global level is about 60 million tons from 600 million tons of rice harvested annually on a global basis which is about 10% of the rough rice (Rice Bran Fact). Meanwhile, Malaysia produced approximately 2,371,000 metric tons in 2007 (Department of Statistic Malaysia) and from this large amount, 16,597 metric tons is the rice bran. Thus, rice bran is an abundance material that can be used as a non-edible starch source for amylase production. In addition, the rice bran is agricultural byproduct and relatively has lower price than the edible rice starch. According to agricommodityprices.com, the price of rice bran on 21st August 2008 is about RM0.47 per kg. However the price is fluctuating because of instability in global market (www.agricommodityprices.com). Rice bran contains 16% crude protein, 18% crude fat, 8.52% ash, 27% of total dietary fiber and 17% of starch (Pe´rez et al, 2005). The starch found in rice bran can be used as a source of starch to synthesize amylase by using fungi strain. This is because rice bran is considered as a support for the fungal growth in the production of glucoamylase (Anto et al, 2006). The study on the rice bran is to find an alternative media substrate to replace wheat bran in the tropics where it is generated abundantly (Akpan et al, 2004).