Farro 57 Rice Cultivar: A Comparative Study of the Nutritional Composition of its Parboiled Milled Rice, Brown Rice and Germinated Brown Rice

This work analyzed the nutritional composition of germinated brown rice (GBR) produced from FARRO 57 rice cultivar and compared it with that of ungerminated brown rice (UBR) and ungerminated parboiled milled/white rice (UWR) from the same cultivar which were used as controls. The aim was to evaluate and compare the nutritional composition of UBR, UWR and GBR of the rice cultivar. The experimental design used was a completely randomized design. GBR was produced by soaking brown rice grains in distilled water for 24 h and then made to germinate in a laboratory incubator at 35° C for 12, 24 and 36 h. The parameters determined included proximate composition, energy value, minerals, vitamins, total starch, amylose and total reducing sugar contents and they were determined in triplicates. It was found that GBR had significantly higher contents of protein (14.54-15.01%), ash (3.36.98%), total dietary fibre (9.23-9.31), phosphorus (130.55-187.15 mg/100 g), iron (6.22-9.94 mg/100 g), calcium (455.0-560.0 mg/100 g), zinc (2.51-2.72 mg/100 g), selenium (92.10-107.50 µg/100 g), vitamin B2 (2.35-2.92 mg/100 g) and vitamin E (1.82-2.68 mg/100g) than UBR and UWR. Furthermore, there was no significant difference between the contents of vitamins A (19.45-19.72 IU), B1 (0.33-0.34 mg/100g) and B6 (1.00-1.10 mg/100g) of GBR and UBR samples, however they were all significantly higher than that of UWR. The GBR also had significantly lower amount of total carbohydrate (64.21-71.09%), total starch (54.91-60.92%), amylose (22.05-28.14%), and total reducing sugar (5.14-11.23%) than UBR and UWR. Amongst the GBR samples, the ash, protein, and the minerals increased with increase in duration of germination while the total carbohydrate, starch and amylose decreased with increase in duration of germination. GBR was recommended over UBR and UWR due to its optimum levels of the nutrients.