Improving the nutritional value and shelf-life of fermented rice water

Consuming fermented rice water (FRW) is claimed to improve digestion and skin health, prevent diseases, and meet some of minerals dietary requirements. However, not enough studies have been conducted to prove such nutritional aspects of FRW. This investigation examined some major factors that can contribute to then utritional value and the shelf life of FRW. The study involved white and brown rice water collected after cooking the rice. Rice water was inoculated with L. plantarum (2%) and subject to 48 h of traditional fermentation at 37°C. Results showed that LAB counts in both brown inoculated (BI) and white inoculated (WI) samples were >7 log CF/mL after 48 h of fermentation. Hence, the counts in BI were consistently higher (p < 0.05) than those in white rice water (inoculated and uninoculated) during fermentation. Additionally, fermented and freeze-dried BI revealed significantly (p < 0.05) the highest niacin (308.59 ± 20.2 μg/g) and folic acid (718.36 ± 7.3 μg/g) contents. Furthermore, the highest ash (17.31%), Fe (4.47 ± 0.44 mg/g) and Phosphorous (17.04 ± 0.22 mg/g) were detected in freeze-dried FRW samples prepared using inoculated brown rice.