Research Article Solvent fractionation of rice bran oil to produce a spreadable rice bran product* Erica L. Bakota 1 , Jill K. Winkler-Moser 1 , Hong-Sik Hwang 1 , Michael J. Bowman 2 , Debra E. Palmquist 3 and Sean X. Liu 1 1 Functional Foods Research, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Peoria, IL 2 Bioenergy Research, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Peoria, IL 3 Midwest Area, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, Peoria, IL Rice bran oil is becoming increasingly popular as a functional ingredient, due to its high stability and health benefits. We detail here a new solvent fractionation procedure for the production of a spreadable product derived from rice bran oil. Four different experimental conditions for fractionation yielded four statistically distinct populations. The spreads show distinctive trends in their physical properties, thermal behavior, and rheology, based on incubation time. The rice bran oil based spreads produced in this work consist primarily of rice bran oil but also contain rice bran wax, tocopherols, tocotrienols, and g-oryzanol, as well as other sterols. Relative to rice bran oil, they are enriched in rice bran wax, saturated fatty acids, and sterols, all of which contribute to a more rigid rheological profile than that of rice bran oil. This solvent fractionation process may be used to develop rice bran oil based spreads as functional ingredients or products that may replace nut butters. Practical applications: A need exists for structured lipids and spreadable products that are shelf stable, resistant to oxidation, allergen-free, and provide health benefits to consumers. The fractionation procedure described here may be used to acquire a spreadable rice bran product from crude rice bran oil. This product is novel in composition in that it contains a significant proportion of rice bran wax, as well as tocopherols, tocotrienols, phytosterols, and g-oryzanol. g-Oryzanol has been shown to reduce cholesterol and has also been shown to have antioxidant activity. This spreadable product is also free of allergens present in many nut-based spreads and thus may be used as a functional ingredient in the development of a host of allergen-free products. Keywords: Oxidative stability / Rice bran / Rice bran oil / Spreads Received: October 17, 2012 / Revised: January 2, 2013 / Accepted: January 21, 2013 DOI: 10.1002/ejlt.201200355 1 Introduction Rice bran oil (RBO) has many properties that contribute to its appeal as a functional food ingredient. Rice brain oil contains approximately 85% TAGs, with the remaining fraction con- sisting of waxes, mono- and diglycerides, free fatty acids, and other compounds such as tocopherols, tocotrienols, and phy- tosterols [1–3]. The particular mixture of steryl ferulates found in rice is called g-oryzanol and is also present at high levels in RBO [4, 5]. Compared with other vegetable oils, RBO contains high concentrations of g-oryzanol, toco- pherols, and tocotrienols, all of which offer health benefits to consumers. g-Oryzanol has been shown to have antioxidant activity [4–6] as well as lower cholesterol in both rodents *Mention of trade names or commercial products in this article is solely for the purpose of providing scientific information and does not imply recommendation or endorsement by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Correspondence: Dr. Erica L. Bakota, Functional Foods Research, United States Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research, 1815 N. University St., Peoria, IL 61604 E-mail: erica.bakota@ars.usda.gov Fax: þ1 309 681 6685 Abbreviations: DSC, differential scanning calorimeter; FAME, fatty acid methyl ester; FFA, free fatty acid; OSI, oxidative stability index; RBO, rice bran oil; SBO, soybean oil; SFC, solid fat content; TAG, triacylglycerol; TPC, total polar compounds Eur. J. Lipid Sci. Technol. 2013, 115, 847–857 847 ß Published 2013. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim www.ejlst.com