1. Introduction
In the last decade, the use of brown rice (BR) has increased in
both standard diets and in those diets catered to people with celiac
disease or allergies to other cereals. In addition, the germination of
BR grains provides higher nutritional and functional values since
they are associated with the quality and quantity of their nutrients,
biologically active compounds and antioxidant potential. Currently
consumers demand natural foods, and sprout products have
become increasingly popular among people interested in improving
and maintaining their health by changing dietary habits. In this
scenario, sprouted BR grains are excellent examples of functional
food, because besides their nutritive value they lower the risk of
various diseases and/or exert health promoting effects.
Germinated brown rice (GBR) is considered as a gluten-free
grain characterised by an excellent nutrient profile and germination
greatly enhances the content of bioactive compounds, such
as GABA (c-aminobutyric acid), phenolic compounds, c-oryzanol
and the antioxidant activity (Caceres et al., 2014). For instance,
while the consumption of rice is associated with diabetes mellitus