Comprehensive utilization of rice protein

January 26, 2024

As the country with the largest rice production in the world, China's deep processing and comprehensive utilization of rice have provided new growth points for its agricultural economy, while the rice planting industry is flourishing. When processing rice, only starch is often used, and by-products such as broken rice, rice germ, rice bran, and rice husk contain a large amount of high-quality rice protein that has not been effectively developed and utilized, resulting in a great waste of protein resources.

With the continuous progress of food technology, the high nutritional value and low allergenicity of rice protein have gradually been recognized by people, and the development of processing materials as food or nutritional health products has become a major trend. This article provides an overview of the comprehensive benefits of rice protein.

The research on rice protein both domestically and internationally mainly includes food additives that improve the physicochemical function of food; As a natural thickener and foaming agent for washing and care products; High protein nutritional powder needed by special populations; Bioactive peptides that meet specific functions; Active ingredients that promote body health; Protein feed for livestock and poultry production; Green and environmentally friendly edible films and other technologies are closely related to the hydrolysis and modification of rice protein isolate (RPI).

01 Food Additives

Food additives are a type of additive that can improve the quality, color, aroma, and taste of food. The appropriate molecular size and amino acid composition will endow proteins with certain physicochemical properties, such as solubility, foaming, emulsifying, etc.

Rice protein is more easily soluble in water and concentrated at the gas-liquid interface in a hydrophobic, flexible, and disordered structure, exhibiting foaming and emulsifying properties. Wu Yujing obtained protein foaming powder with high protein content and good foaming performance using rice residue as raw material through a series of processes such as sugar removal, neutral protease enzymatic modification, decolorization and drying.

Anderson et al. treated rice protein isolate with protease, which significantly reduced the apparent viscosity of 10% protein solution, and greatly enhanced the foaming ability and foam stability.

In addition to enzymatic hydrolysis, chemical modification methods can also be used to improve the properties of rice protein. For example, adding Na2SO3 or SDS can release the aggregation state of protein molecules and present colloidal properties.

The rice protein hydrolyzed or modified by the above enzyme methods has a wide range of applications in food production, such as stabilizing and thickening in liquid or semi-solid foods, foaming in baked foods and candies, etc.

02 Protein nutritional supplements

Rice protein has become the preferred plant protein for supplementing nutrition for special populations due to its low allergenicity and high nutritional value. Rice noodles formulated with rice protein can be used to treat infantile diarrhea; Gluten free rice protein is more suitable for people with wheat intolerance, allergies, or abdominal diseases; Rice protein concentrate can better supplement the body's ability and maintain nitrogen balance when normal protein intake decreases or the digestive function is damaged; And it can assist in the treatment of digestive ulcers, trauma, etc.

03 Functional peptide development

Modern research has shown that amino acid residues in small molecule peptides are more easily digested and absorbed by the human body compared to free amino acids. Amino acids in the form of small peptide molecules not only avoid transport competition, but also reduce the high concentration toxic side effects of amino acids. Peptide transport systems consume low energy and are not easily saturated, making the research on hydrolyzed protein products to obtain active peptides popular.

Li Huoyun et al. used Alcalase alkaline protease to hydrolyze rice protein and obtained rice peptides that can eliminate hydroxyl radicals, superoxide anion radicals, and DPPH radicals, providing a guarantee for inhibiting and delaying body aging, and opening up the application prospects of anti-aging cosmetics.

The active peptides in rice protein isolate can affect the expression of cyp4a and cyp2c, thereby improving the metabolism of arachidonic acid as an antihypertensive component. In addition, it can also inhibit atherosclerosis in the hereditary hypercholesterolemic mouse model and reduce the incidence rate.

Rice protease hydrolysates have a wide variety of small molecule peptides and diverse functions. Such as antibacterial active peptides, cholesterol lowering active peptides, antihypertensive active peptides, anti-tumor active peptides, antioxidant active peptides, etc.

04 Protein feed

Rice protein powder, a byproduct of starch sugar preparation from rice, is an excellent feed raw material with high protein content, fast energy conversion, high digestibility, good palatability, good disease resistance, low antigenicity, and amino acid balance. Adding concentrated rice gluten to aquatic feed can not only improve the digestive performance of fish, but also control their excretion, thereby maintaining clear water quality and controlling water pollution.

Rice protease hydrolysis can produce flavor peptides that replace sodium glutamate (MSG). It can effectively mask bitterness, enhance feed viscosity, and improve feed palatability. It can also chelate trace elements and minerals, increasing animal feed intake while ensuring safety and harmlessness.

Liu Weidong et al. significantly increased the egg production rate, feed intake, total protein in blood, and survival rate of chickens by adding 1.5% -2% rice protein as feed.

05 Edible film

Rice edible protein film is made from broken rice, a byproduct of the rice milling industry. It is a green packaging film with good freshness, air resistance, oil resistance, and moisture resistance, promoting the development of edible packaging film materials and opening up a new way for renewable agriculture.

Wu Yinghua et al. studied the forming conditions of rice protein films and found that under constant temperature conditions of 40 ℃, dissolving rice protein in 80% ethanol can form edible films with certain strength on smooth stainless steel plates. The addition of oleic acid and glycerol can improve the transparency and tensile strength of the films. The Southern Louisiana Research Center in the United States has developed an edible film that can withstand tension and water vapor. Its raw material is a combination of rice protein concentrate and pullulan polysaccharides. The edible film can be used as a carrier for flavor substances, nutritional additives, or as a separator for separation, protection, and preservation.

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Ms. Anne

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