Rice bran oil, since immemorial times, has been used by Japanese women to keep their skin smooth. Today, rice bran oil is extensively used in the cosmetics industry in products such as lips sticks, nail polish, hair conditioners and sunscreens. Apart from cosmetic applications, rice bran oil, extracted from the germ and inner husk of rice, is well-liked cooking oil in several Asian countries as India, China, Indonesia, Korea and Japan.
Appreciative nutty flavor, high smoke point of 490o F and oxidative stability are some important properties that make rice bran oil suitable for all high-temperature cooking methods as deep-frying, stir-frying and pan-frying. Additionally, rice bran oil imparts ideal color, desirable texture and longer shelf life to all types of fried foods. In recent years, interest in rice bran oil has grown significantly, mainly due to the health benefits that it offers.
Wide-ranging studies have shown that rice bran oil, when included in diet, produces hypocholesterolemic effect, that is, it reduces LDL cholesterol and triglycerides, but increases HDL cholesterol. It is believed that for every one percent decrease in cholesterol, the risk of coronary heart disease is reduced by two percent. Unlike pharmaceutical drugs, rice bran oil lowers cholesterol without generating any harmful side effects.
The hypocholesterolemic production capability of rice bran oil stems from its chemical composition. About 14g of rice bran oil contains 2.5g of saturated fat (SFA), 6g of monosaturated fat (MUFA) and 5.5g of polysaturated fat (PUFA). In addition to these, four percent of unsaponifiable fraction, which is rich in vitamin E complex, tocopherols, tocotrienols, gamma oryzanol, phytosterols, polyphenols and squalene, is also present. All these ingredients work together to produce hypocholesterolemic effect.
Studies have shown that the minor constituents, particularly gamma oryzanol, of rice bran oil exhibit anti-cancer and antioxidant properties. Consumption of gamma oryzanol retrieved from rice bran oil is found to help in muscle development, weight gain, enhancement of physical strength, reduction of early arteriosclerosis, inhibition of platelet aggregation and amplification of fecal bile acid excretion.
Furthermore, gamma oryzanol has also been used to treat nerve imbalance and disorders of menopause. Gamma oryzanol obtained from rice bran oil is also found to be effective in absorbing ultraviolet light, thereby inhibiting a number of adverse effects attributed to exposure to sunlight. Due to this property, it is used in several sunscreen formulations.
Rice bran oil fulfills all the AHA and FDA/WHO recommendations and protocols. Hence, it is absolutely safe for human consumption. In fact, rice bran oil has also earned the GRAS status in the U.S. With all these benefits, it wouldn’t be wrong to called rice bran oil, “The Health Oil".
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