Rice grain, a rich source of natural bioactive compounds

Rice, which is the most cultivated crop worldwide, is mainly grown as a staple food. Thousands of rice varieties are cultivated; however, their nutritional and medicinal values have not been thoroughly investigated. Rice grain is rich in various bioactive compounds such as phenolic compounds, phytosterols, gallic acid, polycosanol, oryzanol, tocopherol, tocotrienols and ferulic acid. Furthermore, several types of rice and their byproducts are effective for treatment of a number of deteriorating diseases including dysentery, cancer, diabetes and heart disease. Therefore, the present review was conducted to highlight different varieties of rice and their medicinal potentials along with the nutritional composition, bioactive compounds and nutraceutical potentials of rice grain. The integral information combining rice natural bioactive compounds with disease treatment provided herein will be useful for development of drugs for the treatment of various diseases using the rice-derived bioactive compounds.