1Scientist, Department of Food and Nutrition, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141004, Punjab, India
2Professor-cum-Head, Department of Food and Nutrition, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141004, Punjab, India
3Teaching Assistant, Department of Food and Nutrition, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana-141004, Punjab, India
The development of a society depends on the health status of its community. The sedentary lifestyle and changes in eating pattern has led to increase in the lifestyle disorders among populations. There is a need to provide functional foods to people so as to improve their health. The γ-oryzanol is a non-saponifiable lipid which is present in rice bran. It owns many properties that play an important role in lowering plasma and serum cholesterol, improve insulin sensitivity, and reduce the growth of cancerous cells. It possesses a potential for elevating immune activity by humoral and cellular mediated mechanisms. Worldwide many companies are manufacturing tablets of γ-oryzanol and selling them as a health supplement. The market of γ-oryzanol as a nutraceutical is growing due to its enormous beneficial effects and no reported chronic or acute side effects. However, the data pertaining to behavior of γ-oryzanol in the human gut is limited and more research is needed in this area. The use of γ-oryzanol in different diet-based approaches to alleviate disorders related to lifestyle need to be explored as γ-oryzanol as a bioactive component has strong potential for inclusion in designer functional foods. It can play an effective role in improving the health status of community.
γ-oryzanol, Rice bran oil, Nutraceutical, Health benefits, Safety
