Recent advances on bioactivities of black rice

Black rice has been consumed for centuries in Asian countries such as China, Korea or Japan. Nowadays, extracts and derivatives are considered as beneficial functional foods because of their high content in several bioactive molecules such as anthocyanins, other phenolics and terpenoids. The purpose of this review is to summarize and discuss recent developments on black rice bioactivities.

Some sterols and triterpenoids with potential anticancer properties already tested in vitro and in vivo have been isolated and identified from bran extracts of black rice. Protection against osteoporosis has been suggested for the first time for black rice extracts. Because of its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, black rice also protects liver and kidney from injuries. One clinical study reported the interest of black rice in case of alcohol withdrawal.

Several advances have been recently achieved on the understanding of the potential biological effects of black rice and its derivatives. They further confirm that black rice should be considered as a promising source of health-promoting functional foods targeting a large set of noninfectious diseases. However, more clinical studies are needed to support the findings highlighted in this review.