Unlocking the nutritional secrets of rice

NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI) researcher and Charles Sturt University (CSU) PhD candidate, Prakash Oli, was lead author of a new paper which reveals how hydrothermal treatment, parboiling of rice, releases micronutrients to fortify iron and other important trace elements in white rice.

Working with NSW DPI rice chemist, Laura Pallas, and a team of researchers from the Graham Centre, an alliance between DPI and CSU, CSIRO, RMIT University and Australian Synchrotron, the ground-breaking research also offers rice growers in south-east Asia the opportunity to boost production and economic returns.

Mr Oli said his research was driven by the need to improve nutrition levels in white rice and lift returns for growers.

“South-east Asia has two rice harvests, one in autumn and another during the wet season - this summer harvested rice is prone to cracking which means the rice is not suitable for human consumption and is sold at a greatly reduced price as stockfeed,” Mr Oli said.

“Parboiling the rice releases starches which fill in the cracks caused by summer wetting events, so when the rice is milled the whole grain is retained.”

Laura Pallas said the research addresses the loss of nutrients, which can be found in brown rice, through the milling process for white rice.

“Milled rice has the bran and germ removed to produce the fluffy white textured rice we enjoy,” Dr Pallas said.

“We now know through analysis with the Australian Synchrotron, that hydrothermal treatment drives iron, manganese, potassium and zinc into the grain and these important nutritional elements will remain in the white rice.

“So the rice satisfies both palate and nutritional requirements – we can also add extra nutritional and dietary requirements to further fortify the health attributes of rice.”