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Recently, Government of India’s NAFED launched Fortified Rice Bran Oil to Boost Healthy Living
Key updates
- This Rice bran oil will be marketed by NAFED (National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd).
- In the same way a MoU has been signed between NAFED and FCI for the production and marketing of fortified rice kernel
- Rice Bran oil from Nafed will be fortified and it will be ensured that it will contain additional nutrients and vitamins.
What is an ideal cooking oil?
An ideal cooking oil is one which has a high smoke point which means that it starts giving out volatile and toxic compounds and smoke or fumes only at a higher temperature. Cooking oil should also be rich in unsaturated fatty acids like mono-and polyunsaturated fatty acids and low on saturated fatty acids. Oil which contain unsaturated fatty acids are liquid at room temperature and turn solid when chilled
Rice bran oil
- Rice bran oil is made from the hard outer covering of rice called rice husk or chaff. and is darker in colour.
- It is low in saturated fatty acid and rich in unsaturated fatty acids
- Rice bran oil has lipid lowering properties and reduces cholesterol absorption.
- It is also known to be rich in oryzanol which lowers the plasma non-HDL level and increases plasma HDL levels.
- High smoking quality makes this oil ideal for all types of cooking from stir-frying and deep-frying.
- Rice bran oil is also used in cosmetics because of its moisturising properties.
Rice Bran Oil Extraction Process
- Rice bran is the very thin layer of brown rice and most nutritious part. It is bestowed with high amounts of vitamins and minerals.
- It is manufactured from the inner husk and germ of brown rice. It has a mild nutty and neutral taste and stable when exposed to high temperatures.
- Rice bran oil is extracted by chemical solvent process or pressed directly from rice bran.
- For a minimal amount of oil extraction expelling pressing method can be used while large scale manufacturing uses solvent making technique.
- Hot extraction process gets more oil yield and pure edible oil than the cold processing.
Health benefits of Fortified Rice Bran Oil
- It has multiple health benefits, including lowering cholesterol level due to its low trans-fat content and high mono-unsaturated and poly-unsaturated fat contents. It also acts as a booster and reduces the risk of cancer due to the high amount of Vitamin E it contains.
- This oil is recommended by The American Heart Association and the World Health Organization (WHO) as one of the best substitutes for other edible oils.
- According to the FSSAI, fortified oil can help a person fulfil 25-30% of the recommended dietary intake for vitamins A and D.
Significance of the move
- This initiative by Nafed will significantly reduce the country’s consumption dependence on imported edible oil in future.
- This will provide opportunities for Indian edible oil manufacturers further
- This initiative will provide easy access to Nafed branded high quality rice bran oil, which will also give a boost to the indigenous oil manufacturing industry.
Extra reading: https://journalsofindia.com/nafed/
Source: PIB
