Background: In the recent years, cases of elderly women suffering from metabolic diseases such as dyslipidemias brought about by hormonal imbalance after menopause are continuously increasing. In this regard, a continuous and escalating demand to develop a more functional and highly nutritional food product as an adjunct supplement that can help alleviate these diseases is still being sought.
Objective: This study investigated the effects of germinated blackish-purple rice cultivars Keunnunjami, Superjami, and reddish-brown cultivar Superhongmi in the lipid metabolism of ovariectomized Sprague-Dawley rats.
Method: The animals were randomly divided into nine groups (n=5) and were supplemented with either non-germinated or germinated rice for 9 weeks. Then the plasma, liver, and fat samples were collected for the lipid metabolism effects analyses.
Results: Animals fed with germinated rice cultivars had improved lipid profile levels relative to the groups supplemented with non-germinated rice cultivars. The germinated rice groups, Keununjami and Superjami in particular, showed a low total cholesterol levels, high levels of high-density lipoproteins-cholesterol, high fecal lipid output, low hepatic lipid values, and low hepatic adipocyte accumulation. There was also an increase in the rate of lipolysis and decrease in lipogenesis based on the lipid-regulating enzyme activity profiles obtained for the groups that fed on germinated rice. Also, results revealed that pigmented rice cultivars had superior effects in improving the lipid metabolism relative to the non-pigmented normal brown rice variety.
Conclusion: Based on the results, this study suggests that germinated pigmented rice consumption can confer better lipid metabolism than ordinary white rice and constitutes as an effective functional food in alleviating the risk of having dyslipidemias like those suffering from menopausal co-morbidities.
Keywords: Sprague–Dawley rats; germinated rice; lipid metabolism; ovariectomy; pigmented rice.