NutraCea Invests in Rice Science to Bring Benefits of Stabilized Rice Bran to the Masses

Sunday, June 22, 2008 by: David Gutierrez, staff writer
Tags: stabilized rice bran, health news, Natural News

(NaturalNews) The rice bran ingredient manufacturer NutraCea has entered an agreement with HerbalScience Singapore to create two joint ventures to expand research, development and marketing of products based on stabilized rice bran.

The two companies are forming a third company, Rice Science, to develop stabilized rice bran extracts for use as a nutraceutical ingredient in foods and beverages. Rice Science will be 80 percent owned by NutraCea.

According to NutraCea, stabilized rice bran contains a variety of ingredients that provide benefits for preventing or treating arthritis and diabetes and improving immune health. Among the reasons cited for rice bran's nutraceutical value are its high content of the vitamin E complexes referred to as tocotrienols and gamaoryzanol; B vitamins; betacarotne; and fiber. Rice bran is also high in powerful antioxidants.

"We know that stabilized rice bran contains a rich bounty of natural compounds at therapeutic levels," said NutraCea Chief Executive Officer Brad Edson. "We believe by isolating these specific elements, we can create quantifiable isolates that have the potential to be measurably effective in dealing with some of the most serious health threats that we face today."

In white rice, the bran and germ are discarded from the rice seed, and much of the nutritional content along with it.

Until recently, NutraCea focused on developing stabilized rice bran ingredients as nutritional supplements, but the company is now moving into the "functional foods" market as well. As such, it aims to develop food and beverage products that are marketed as beneficial for dealing with specific health conditions.

In addition to forming Rice Science, NutraCea and HerbalScience will also collaborate in a joint venture aimed at developing drugs based on stabilized rice bran.

As another component of its expansion efforts, NutraCea recently signed a distribution with the major Mexican food group FX Morales, which has customers including Kellogg, Kraft, Nestle, Frito Lay and Pepsi.