Tap rice bran oil’s full potential to augment domestic supplies: IIRR scientists

As India launches a massive programme to increase domestic edible oil production to reduce dependence on hefty imports, the Indian Institute of Rice Research (IIRR) says rice bran can contribute significantly to the domestic pool.

It has begun a focussed approach to include rice bran as an important component in its rice breeding projects. 

Though the oil is already being made out of bran for some time, its potential is not tapped fully. India produces about 10 million tonnes of bran annually.

India produces only 1.6 mt of rice bran oil as against the potential 6.5 mt.

Imports

India imported 14.4 million tonnes of vegetable oil, costing ₹1.56 lakh crore in 2021-22 against 13.5 mt a year before by spending ₹1.17 lakh crore. 

“It can be a very good source of edible oil. We at the IIRR are in the process of isolating paddy varieties based on the oil content in their bran,” J Aravind Kumar, a Principal Breeder, at the institute told businessline.

“We have completed one season to see how much oil is recovered from each of the varieties that we have already released and in the food system,” he said.

“Bran, the outer layer of rice grain, constitutes about 6-8 per cent of the rough grain. The potential yield of rice bran oil is between 18-22 per cent depending on the variety and method of extraction,” R M Sundaram, Director of IIRR, said.

The annual rice bran output potential in India is about 10 million tonnes.  But only half of the potential bran produced is processed and the remaining is consumed as cattle feed. The untapped potential is pegged at about 6.5 mt.

Advantage rice bran oil

Rice bran oil is touted to be as a ‘healthy oil’ due to its balanced fatty acid profile and is suitable for different types of cooking. 

Global demand

In a paper submitted at the International Conference on Vegetable Oils 2023, an IIRR team led by Sundaram said that there was a growing interest on rice bran oil globally for its health attributes.

With a global market size valued at $4 billion, the demand for this oil is growing at 3.5 per cent annually. Citing research reports, they said the annual global production is increasing by 50,000 tonnes.

“This is the right time to tap into the vast potential that the oil offers in addressing the edible oil demand and to reduce the pressure on rainfed agro-ecosystems that grow edible oil crops,” he said.

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