Stage 1 processing occurs at the rice mill. As soon as the bran and germ are removed from the kernel, NutraCea proprietary equipment begins the process of stabilization. A combination of heat, water, and pressure are used to deactivate the enzymes that cause rancidity in the rice bran. The stabilized rice bran is dried and packaged for shipment.

Stage 2 processing uses the stabilized rice bran from the stage 1 processing. Water and enzymes are added to the stabilized rice bran. The slurry is processed in a centrifuge to separate the insoluble fiber fraction, called RiFiber, and aqueous dispersible fraction, called RiSolubles. The products are dried and packaged in either bulk containers for finished food manufacturers and humanitarian relief or in canisters for retail consumer sales. A third product of the Stage 2 process, RiBalance, is extracted prior to the centrifuge process. RiBalance contains both the insoluble and soluble extracts, but in a more bioavailable form.

Using proprietary NutraCea technology, the bran is fully stabilized and sent to an extraction area where oil is removed, yielding two products…a high quality crude rice bran oil and defatted rice bran. After extraction, food grade defatted bran is temporarily stored in food grade silos until it can be packaged for edible applications.

Crude rice bran oil is further processed by refining, which removes the majority of free fatty acids and provides an oil with minimal processing suitable for a variety of animal or agricultural applications.

For the vast majority of edible grade applications however, refined oil is sent forward to an absorptive vacuum bleaching step, which removes natural pigments and impurities that can’t be removed by the refining process. Edible oil bleaching typically leaves minor flavor and odor compounds that must be removed by steam distillation before packaging; however those customers that require de-waxed oil have their oil go through a de-waxing process before distillation.

Steam distillation is the final step in the edible oil process and it is here that any off flavors and residual free fatty acids left in the oil are removed. Once the oil has been fully processed, it is ready for packaging into retail bottles, foodservice pails or bulk drums. Larger customers have the option of purchasing tanker truck quantities of rice bran oil.