Antimicrobial activity of rice extracts

Rice, especially coloured rice varieties, is abundant in bioactive compounds. Some of these compounds have been shown to have antimicrobial properties. Natural antimicrobial compounds are of interest to food and beverage industries as consumers prefer natural preservatives. New antimicrobial compounds may also provide the medical profession with another option for treating antibiotic resistant pathogens. Antimicrobial compounds appear to be present in higher concentrations in brown and red rice samples and absent in purple or dark brown rice. These results suggest that colour is not necessarily a good indicator of antimicrobial properties. Comparison of milled and unmilled rice demonstrated that antimicrobial properties are present in both the bran layer and endosperm.