The nutritional profile and human health benefit of pigmented rice and the impact of post-harvest processes and product development on the nutritional components: A review

Pigmented rice has attracted considerable attention due to its nutritional value, which is in large conferred by its abundant content of phenolic compounds, considerable micronutrient concentrations, as well as its higher resistant starch and thereby slower digestibility properties. A wide range of phenolic compounds identified in pigmented rice exhibit biological activities such as antioxidant activity, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, and antidiabetic properties. Post-harvest processes significantly reduce the levels of these phytochemicals, but recent developments in processing methods have allowed greater retention of their contents. Pigmented rice has also been converted to different products for food preservation and to derive functional foods. Profiling a large set of pigmented rice cultivars will thus not only provide new insights into the phytochemical diversity of rice and the genes underlying the vast array of secondary metabolites present in this species but also provide information concerning their nutritional benefits, which will be instrumental in breeding healthier rice. The present review mainly focuses on the nutritional composition of pigmented rice and how it can impact human health alongside the effects of post-harvest processes and product development methods to retain the ambient level of phytochemicals in the final processed form in which it is consumed.