DOST pushes production, consumption of brown rice

CEBU, Philippines - The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) will push for the production and consumption of brown rice to aid the supply shortage of staple food in the country.

In a report, DOST announced that it is fast-tracking its research on extending the shelf-life of brown to close the deficit between the production and consumption of Filipino’s staple—the white cereal.

“To address the persistent rice shortage, we propose a shift in our preference from white rice to brown rice,” said DOST Secretary Mario G. Montejo.

“If all of us eat brown rice, we can chew up the rice shortage,” Montejo added.

For a start, DOST will develop ways to lengthen the shelf life of brown rice which is shorter than that of white rice. 

The DOST is now developing a process, which will be completed in 2011, “to solve this disadvantage,” Montejo said.

At the same time, he said the department is also putting brown rice on the base of the food pyramid, starting with its price that must be made comparable to that of white rice.

Because of the low demand, brown rice is currently more expensive and not available in many markets.

“In milling the palay to brown rice, you get 10 percent additional yield compared with white rice, which is equivalent to the country's rice production deficit,” he points out.

“We should think outside the box, we should change our mind set. We should look at the problem, which is lack of rice. Adding brown rice could fill the gap,” he stressed.

The DOST will also fortify brown rice with vitamins, minerals and other essential micronutrients.

With the bran and the nutrient-rich embryo intact and with fewer broken grains, the whole-grain milling recovery is as much as 10 percent higher than for white rice, said Dr. Emil Q. Javier, president of DOST’s National Academy of Science and Technology.

Brown rice is unpolished whole grain rice that is produced by removing only the hull or husk.

The remaining bran gives the brown color to the grain. Rice becomes white or polished when the bran layer is stripped off in milling, the whitening process.

Brown rice may come from long- or short-grain and even sticky rice. It is produced during the first stage of milling when the hull is removed. The next stage of milling removes the bran layer, leaving milled white rice.

Compared to white-rice, the rice bran in the brown rice contains Vitamin E, which lowers excess fat and cholesterol and provides anti-tumor protection. (FREEMAN)