The researchers believe that black rice can alleviate inflammation in those patients who suffer from allergies, asthma, and other diseases.

The outer husk of the rice grain is called bran and during the processing of brown rice it is removed to produce the well-known white rice.

Cell culture experiments showed that bran of the black rice restrict the release of histamine, which is responsible for causing inflammation.

In the study conducted by Mendel Friedman and team, the inflammation in mice decreased by 32% when the black rice bran extract was injected in them.

The production of certain substances known to cause inflammation also reduced significantly. On the other hand, similar results were not noted in case of brown rice bran extract.

When the mice were given a diet having 10% black rice bran, it decreased inflammation linked with allergic contact dermatitis, which is a common type of skin irritation.

The findings further show the possible value of black rice bran as an anti-inflammatory and anti-allergic food.

Black rice bran can also be the potential therapeutic agent for the treatment and prevention of chronic inflammatory illnesses.

The study findings have been published in the ACS’ bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.