Effect of germination on functional and nutritional quality characteristics of brown rice

The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of germination on the functional and nutritional quality characteristics of brown rice. Brown rice (Pusa basmati 1121) were soaked in water for 12 hours at 28±2 °C, followed by incubation at 28±2 °C for time interval of about 48 hours. The germinated brown rice were evaluated for various functional and nutritional quality parameters. The findings revealed that germination resulted in increase L* (58.37±0.17), a* (5.92±0.10) and b* (19.51±0.13) values of BR. The germinated brown rice flour recorded higher crude protein (9.86±0.12%), crude fibre (1.34±0.04%) and ash content (1.57±0.07%). Significant increase in iron (9.73 mg/100 g), calcium (28.92 mg/100 g), potassium (229.31 mg/100 g) and magnesium (150.16 mg./100 g) content was observed with germination. The total phenol and antioxidant activity also improved with germination from 74.20±0.15 to 84.75±0.12 mg GAE/100 g and 48.97±0.09 to 61.30±0.07%, respectively. Further, germination also considerably improved the water absorption capacity and bulk density from 128±0.14 to 128±0.14%, 0.76±0.02 to 0.86±0.03 g/ml and 0.84 to 0.79 whereas, decrease in oil absorption capacity was observed from 0.84±0.02 to 0.79±0.01%, respectively. Thus germination could effectively be used to enhance the nutritional value and functional quality of brown rice.