Metabolomic Based Insight Reveals a few Metabolites at Various Germination Stages of Black Rice, Demonstrating...

Dementia is a brain disorder that impairs the cognitive abilities like memory, thinking, reasoning, and judgement, thereby restricts an individual's capacity to carry out daily activities. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a prominent example of one such condition, representing approximately 60-70% of dementia cases and is characterized as an irreversible multifaceted neurodegenerative disorder. The enzyme Acetylcholinesterase (AChE) is a significant contributor to dementia and other neurodegenerative disorder, where this enzyme hydrolyses acetylcholine, a crucial neurotransmitter, thereby disrupting neurotransmission. AChE inhibitors (AChEi) can help delay or mitigate this degradation process. Black rice (purple rice, forbidden rice), a glutinous pigmented rice variety rich in bioavailable phytonutrients like phenols, has shown the potential in alleviating several biological disorders. It has also been reported to possess anti-Alzheimer's properties. This study aims to investigate the metabolomic changes in an indigenous variety of black rice throughout its different germination stages, as well as the impact of metabolite dynamics on the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase. The germination stages exhibited significant variation in terms of their metabolomic constituents. The G2 stage showed the highest AChE inhibition potential among the germination stages, with an IC₅₀ value of 0.217 ± 0.009 mg mL^- 1. Among the compounds identified in the black rice extract, benzene-1,2,4-triol, pyrogallol, hydroquinone, and phloroglucinol* (reported for the first time) exhibited superior activity than the standard drug galantamine. Furthermore, the combination of these authentic compounds with the standard drug (galantamine) showed promising results in reducing the complications associated with the synthetic drug in both in vitro and in silico studies.