Rice is a staple food for over half of the world’s
population. Germinated brown rice (GBR) is considered
whole food because only the outermost layer i.e. the hull of
the rice kernel is removed which causes least damage to its
nutritional value. Brown rice can be soaked in water at 30 °
C for specified hours for germination to get GBR. Soaking
for 3 h and sprouting for 21 h has been found to be
optimum for getting the highest gamma-aminobutyric acid
(GABA) content in GBR, which is the main reason behind
the popularity of GBR. The intake of GBR instead of white
rice ameliorates the hyperglycemia, boosts the immune
system, lowers blood pressure, inhibits development of
cancer cells and assists the treatment of anxiety disorders.
Germination process could be used as enzymatic modification
of starch that affects pasting properties of GBR flour.
GBR would improve the bread quality when substituted for
wheat flour. It is concluded that GBR has potential to
become innovative rice by preserving all nutrients in the
rice grain for human consumption in order to create the
highest value from rice.