By IANS,
Washington : Researchers have identified the bioactive compounds that invest pre-germinated brown rice (PR) with such health giving properties.
PR is an emerging health food. The brown rice is soaked in warm water prior to cooking; the warm bath induces germination, or sprouting, which stimulates rice enzymes to produce more nutrients.
One such nutrient is the important brain chemical GABA (PR is thus often referred to as “GABA rice”), and animal studies have shown that a PR-rich diet can improve cognitive function. Other studies have found that PR can also act as an anti-diabetic, reports Eurekalert.
Robert Yu of the Medical College of Georgia and colleagues used mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance to identify the bioactive compounds as ASGs, a diverse family of molecules that consists of a glucose derivative, fatty acids, and sterols.
The ASGs were concentrated in the rice bran (outer layer) and not the seed, so they would not be found in white rice. This study will appear in the October issue of Journal of Lipid Research.