Abstract

ABSTRACT Rice bran is a valuable by-product of the rice milling industry, a good natural source of many vital nutrients but has some limitations in food application. It is highly susceptible to rancidity caused by the inherent enzyme lipase and there is an unfounded fear that the rice bran may contain silica in an amount and make it unsuitable for human consumption. In the present investigation, cold treatment was used to extend the shelf life of local variety parboiled rice bran and was also directed to assess the nutritional composition and silica content. The rancidity in term of free fatty acid (FFA) was less increased 0.104 to 0.74 % (7 fold) in cold treated parboiled rice bran than untreated rice bran 0.104 to 2.90 % (28 fold) at the end of 3 months of storage period. The silica content was ranged from 0.34-0.71 % in different fractions of rice bran samples. The nutritional composition of the stabilized rice bran was analyzed that contained 6.54-9.48 % moisture, 7.24-10.63 % ash, 12.26-14.01% proteins, 23.53-27.86 % fats, 2.5-10.10 % fiber, 42.19-45.74 % carbohydrate and 456.54-486.00 Kcal/100g energy. The different fractions of rice bran contained 8 -14 mg/100 g of Fe, 425 -940 mg /100 g of Mg, 4.65 -6.68 mg /100 g of Zn and 35 -62 mg/ 100 g of Ca. The vitamin B1 (Thiamin), B3 (Niacin) and B6 (Pyridoxine) content ranged from 14 -24, 275 -430 and 25 -42 ppm respectively in different fractions of rice bran. Results indicated that cold treatment might effectively improve the self life of rice bran that contained a good amount of vital nutrients for health benefit and is useful in many food applications such as food supplement and edible oil extraction.