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 RICE BRAN OIL - HEART FRIENDLY COOKING OIL B.V. Mehta Executive Director, The Solvent Extractors' Association of India, Mumbai * * (The views of the expert are on good quality Oryzanol Rich Rice Bran oil and /or its blends and not for any specific brand) Rice is the staple diet for majority of the Indians. India is the second largest producer of rice in the world, after China. Rice (Oryzae Sativa L.) like other cereals contains only a small amount of oil (2%). However, when paddy is milled, the germ and bran layers separate from the endosperm and form the milling residue which is commonly known as "Bran". The Rice Bran Oil (RBG) is obtained from this brown layer of rice, which constitutes about 5% of the paddy and is enriched in oil to the extent of 10 - 25%, Bran from parboiled paddy yields more oil than the bran from fresh paddy. The oil extracted from the bran has a high free fatty acids content. |
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Role of Fat in Human Body Fat is an important ingredient of human diet. The functional role of fat in the diet is manifold. Fat is a most concentrated source of energy. One gram of fat gives 9 kcal of energy. Carbohydrates and proteins provide only 4 kcal of energy per gram. Fat carries out the following functions in our body:
Daily Fat Intake According to the American Heart Association: the optimum intake of fat for an adult is 30% of its total caloric intake. Therefore for an adult man consuming 2000 calories in diet should be getting about 600 calories (30%) or 60-65 gms. of total fat (visible & non-visible) per day. Apart from visible fat some amount of fat is present in food items like cereals, pulses, milk, eggs, meat etc. as invisible fat. From the data-base generated on fatty acid composition in Indian foods and National Nutrition Monitoring. Bureau diet surveys, the daily invisible fat intake is estimated to be 15gm among the rural poor and 25gm in the urban middle and high-income groups. Thus the daily requirement of visible fat intake works out to be somewhere between 20 to 50 gms depending upon physical activity and physiological status. Quality Of Fat Choice of a healthy cooking oil is a controversial subject. The ideas keep on changing as new evidence accumulates. Desi Ghee (butter Oil) used to be the conventional cooking oil of the Indians. There was nothing wrong with this most favourite cooking medium of Indian households. But the problems started with the change in our eating and living habits. Desi Ghee being rich in saturated fats has the tendency to increase total cholesterols including HDL (so called "good cholesterols") and LDL & VLDL (so called "bad cholesterols"). As such consumption of desi ghee coupled with fibre rich diet which reduces LDL bad' cholesterol & physical activity which reduces VLDL bad cholesterol brings about a favourable lipid profile. . But with the lack of physical activity in the recent years coupled with intake of diet devoid of fibre such as chappaties and other snack foods made from flour of decorticated foodgrains, consumption of desi ghee started raising total cholesterol levels. Therefore, the search started for an alternative cooking oil which could reduce the cholesterol levels. Short-term scientific studies conducted in this regard found that vegetable oils rich in poly-unsaturated fats had the ability to reduce total cholesterols. Thus the recommendations tilted in favour of PUFA rich oils such as Sunflower oil & Safflower oil. In due course of time evidence began to accumulate establishing that although poly-unsaturated fats were effective in reducing LDL cholesterol, the very high content of poly-unsaturated fats had the undesirable affect of reducing HDL cholesterol as well. It further came to light that since oils with high levels of poly-unsaturated fats oxidise faster than those with MUFA or SF A profiles, therefore, the excessive intake of these oil could impair the ability of the anti-oxidants in the human system to control free radicals and thereby enhance the risk of certain Cancers, Cataracts, Rheumatoid arthritis, Parkinson's disease and contribute to the ageing problem. The American Heart Association now recommends use of oils having an equal proportion of saturated mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fats. The World Health Organisation (WHO) recommends poly-unsaturated fatty acid (PUFA)/saturated fatty acids (SFA) ratio-of 0.8 to 1.0 and linoleic acid (Omega-6) alpha linolenic acid (Omega-3) ratio. of 5-10 in the diet. The most recent recommendations according to the National Research Council. Washington DC are 10% saturates, 12 to 13% for monounsaturates, not more than 7 to 8% for polyunsaturates. It is recommended that the intake of polyunsaturated fat should be accompanied by Vitamin E, Vitamin C or Carotene consumption to help prevent lipid peroxidation. Rice Bran Oil (RBO) The Rice bran oil is almost similar in fatty acid composition to that of Groundnut oil and ranks fourth in production, next to Groundnut, Rape/Mustard, and Soybean oils, which are among the major edible oils produced in the country. Rice bran oil contains a high proportion of mono-unsaturated fatty acids (4050%) and poly-unsaturated fatty acids (29-42%). Rice Bran Oil contains about 36% of linoleic acid and has a very low content of linolenic acid (2.2%) which ensures good shelf life. The fatty acid composition of the common vegetable oils is compared with that of Rice Bran Oil as shown in table below: Composition of Common Vegetable Oils
If we look at the composition of the various vegetable oils commonly used in India, we shall find that no single oil could meet the requirement of these recommendations but Rice bran oil & Groundnut oil are closest to the recommendations. The use of any one of the oils like safflower, sunflower and soyabean furnish very high PUFA / SFA ratio. The use of safflower & sunflower also provide high ratio of Omega-6 / Omega-3. Though the levels of Omega-3 will be in the desirable range when mustard and rapeseed oils are used, these oils furnish very high levels of erucic acid. The use of groundnut or rice bran oils ensure optimal intake of MUFA and ratio of PUFA / SFA. Health Benefits of RBO
Rice Bran Oil has remarkable Cholesterol lowering properties in comparison with other cooking oils. This can be seen from the following table: Cholesterol Lowering Activity of Various Edible Oils
Human trials conducted by the National Institute of Nutrition, Hyderabad, have confirmed significant reduction in total cholesterols particularly the triglyceride levels by using Rice Bran Oil as compared to conventional cooking oils. In this study 21 subjects with high total cholesterols (>225 mg/dl) or high triglycerides(>190 mg/dl) were randomly divided into experimental and control groups. Twelve subjects, who constituted the experimental group, were instructed to use Rice Bran Oil in place of their usual cooking oil which they were using earlier. The remaining nine who served as controls, were allowed to continue the use of their habitual edible oil. There was a significant reduction in total cholestrol and triglyceride Ievels 15 and 30 days after the use of Rice Bran Oil. However, in control subjects there were no changes in serum lipids. Cooking Advantages of Rice Bran Oil
Edible Uses of Rice Bran Oil * Good Cooking medium * Deep frying fat * Salad oil * Bakery fat * Manufacture of Vanaspati * Pharmaceuticals Other Uses of Rice Bran Oil As in Japan & Thailand, India should utilise advanced technology & research inputs to produce value-added products like oryzanol, IF_6, Squalene, Ferulic acid esters which are very widely used in pharmaceutical, cosmetics & food industries. Product like calcium phosphate-dibasic can be used as Organic fertiliser in effective, long term production of good quality fruits & vegetables. Soap stock obtained from Rise Bran Oil refining process can be mainly used as raw material for the manufacture of soaps & paints. Rice bran cake is useful food for cattles & other milking animals, increasing their milk production substantially. Rice Bran Oil Potential in India 100 Kg of paddy rice will generate approx. 5-8 kgs of bran. Currently India has potential of more than 10.0 lakh tonnes of Rice Bran Oil per annum based on 5% bran availability from paddy or 7.5% from rice on production of 136 million tonnes of paddy or 91 million tonnes of brown rice. However, if entire quantity of brown rice milling is done by modern rice mills or sheller or modernised huller rice mills then quality of rice bran produced would be of better quality and in turn would give excellent grade of Rice Bran Oil. Currently the solvent extraction industry is producing about 6.0 lakh tonnes of RBO out of which 5.50 lakh tonnes is of edible grade and 0.5 lakh tonnes is non edible grade from 35.0 lakh tonnes of Rice Bran processing per annum. Status of RBO in India In India, Rice Bran Oil is the most important oil among the non-conventional oils in terms of its potential to augment the availability of oils. Full realisation of its potential would help in reducing the gap between demand and supply of indegenous edible oils in the Indian market. This micracle product is available in the markets of northern, eastern & southern regions of India. In western India this oil is launched by some companies. It is available in consumer packs in Mumbai & its suburban areas. There is a lot of awareness in Government & industry circles about the goodness of this oil. But there is less awareness among the consumers about this oil as 'Heart Friendly Health Oil.' In this respect, the role played by the Solvent Extractors' Association of India (SEA) in promoting this wonderful oil as cooking oil in our country is worth mentioning. SEA, the premier association of Vegetable Oil Industry & Trade in India, in its crusade to popularise this wonderful oil as "Health Oil' in India, has so far organised 6 National level seminars on Rice Bran Oil & organised many workshops all over India in the last six years. Status of RBO in Other Countries
Finally, in today's "Health Is Wealth" scenario, this wonderful "Heart friendly" cooking is the new way to effective heart care. Its prolonged use reduces the risk of Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) in humans by reducing total cholesterol & trinlycerides. 1t also has anti-cancer properties which helps in allround health. The need of the hour is to promote this oil as 'Health Oil' in India with the help of the Government, industry & other associated agencies. Television, electronic media & press can play a major role in its popularity as "Health Oil' for the masses. Family physicians, dieticians & health experts will be useful as important members of our society in their guidance to the common man about the choice of cooking oil to be used in future. Easy availability of RBO at the village level in consumer packs will help in promoting the better health of our people, thereby turning every house in India into a 'Happy Home'. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||