Bioactive compounds in rice during grain development

The bioactive compounds in two developing rice grains, KFSW (a waxy indica red rice) and TK16 (a non-waxy japonica rice), were investigated. The total phenolics and total flavonoids of two developing rice grains were significantly higher than those in mature seeds. The phenolics extract was further fractionated into three fractions, free, soluble-ester and insoluble-bound; ferulic acid was the most abundant compound in each fraction, in both immature grain and mature seed. α-Tocopherol was the most abundant vitamin E homologue, followed by γ-tocotrienol in KFSW and α-tocotrienol in TK16. High contents of free and soluble-ester ferulic acids, soluble dietary fibre, total tocols and oryzanols were found in the 15th and 18th DAA (days after anthesis) grains, which were suitable for dehulling, with a reasonable brown rice yield. Immature rice grains, containing a remarkable amount of bioactive compounds with a high reducing power, have a great potential for applications in nutraceutical foods.