Rice hulls are a by-product of rice milling and can be used in a variety of ways.
Although rice, one of the most widely produced, varied and consumed foods on the planet, is grown primarily for human consumption, by-products derived from milling and polishing, such as rice cylinder or broken rice, are primarily destined for other uses.
One of the most valued destinations for broken rice in the food sector is animal feed.
Broken rice, from the separation of rice milling by-products, is particularly valued in animal feed, especially for pets and piglets, making broken rice a highly valuable cereal.
This is because broken rice, as a by-product of the usual production process of whole rice, is nothing more than fragments of the round rice grain, i.e. parts of a polished grain. In the case of pets, this constitutes a very complete food of which its nutritional value and its nutritional characteristics, identical to those of whole grain rice, and with a remarkable digestibility, which favours the rapid absorption of nutrients, are particularly valued.
In the case of piglet feed, broken rice guarantees and favours a complete diet for these animals in their most accelerated stage of growth and also for young piglets, as it is a source of quick energy with a low fat content and a notable energy value thanks to its outstanding starch content and the absence of anti-nutritional factors.
Moreover, according to the Spanish Foundation for the Development of Animal Nutrition, FEDNA: ‘the energy value of broken rice can be increased by 3-5% in young ruminants and monograstrics by heat treatment’.
It is also worth highlighting the nutritional qualities of broken rice in terms of its content of basic minerals for development, such as magnesium, sodium, potassium and calcium and, of course, its great versatility in preparations that increase its energy intake when combined with proteins.
Speaking now of human consumption, broken rice can also be used to obtain rice flours of different characteristics and varieties, depending on the grain being milled. These flours are mainly used for the production of pasta and various pastry and bakery products that are particularly suitable for people with gluten intolerance or coeliac disease.
In addition, broken rice is used for the production of various beverages for human consumption, including vegetable rice drinks, which have been in great demand recently due to their easy digestibility and the absence of lactose in their composition, rice wines and various types of beer.
In fact, the brewing industry is one of the most important consumers of broken rice, as it uses this by-product of rice milling to enrich the malt and enhance its flavour in beers that are widely consumed, for example, in the United States, giving the beer a lighter colour with an intense golden hue.
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