Issue 32

Rice is much more than a basic food staple in Thailand, the cereal also has major health benefits as well as providing access to foreign markets for local producers.

“Eat germinated brown rice as medicine, eat fish and vegetables as main staples and eat little else,” goes an old saying in Isaan. The method of germinating brown rice or khao hang ngok has been common knowledge in northeastern region of Thailand for over a hundred years and passed on through generations of local farmers. To back up this ancient wisdom, scientists have confirmed that germinated brown rice is highly beneficial for the body.

According to the Institute of Food Research and Product Development at Kasetsart University, germinated or sprouted brown rice has been found to contain higher levels of Vitamin E, B6 and B12, lysine and magnesium compared to unprocessed brown rice. Most importantly, by allowing the brown rice to germinate, the level of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is 15 times higher than in regular brown rice. Research has found that GABA helps to balance brain functions, relieve stress and anxiety, and may help prevent Alzheimer’s.

Khao Hang Baan Nong Bua Sang Group is a community enterprise that grows and germinates brown rice in northeastern Sakon Nakon province.

“I’ve lived and worked here [in the rice fields] since I was born,” says its head Nupen Nakowong. “Germinated brown rice started to became well-known about twenty years ago, and the community has been studying how to produce germinated brown rice even before we formed the community enterprise in 2007.”

Currently the group consists of 50 farmers. They help each other make a living by rotating rice planting to allow them grow rice in different seasons. Then they send the rice paddy to be germinated at the community enterprise centre.

Nakowong explains the process for rice germination: wash and soak the paddy for 48 hours, changing the water every six hours; steam the paddy until cooked; sun-dry for a day; mill the rice, placing under the sun for another day until the rice is completely dry; and hand-sort the rice to select only unbroken grains before vacuum-packing the rice for sale.

“Last year, students from Kasetsart University, Sakon Nakon campus came to stay with us for four months, learning the rice germinating process and in return [they] improved the packaging for the rice products,” says Nakowong.

The university students also helped establish the Germinated Brown Rice Learning Centre, and held activities for local students and other community enterprises who visited the centre. Since then, the group has received visitors eager to learn about the germination process at their community enterprise. Potential rice buyers from Thailand and overseas, such as Japan, have also visited Nakowong’s community enterprise to experience the rice germinating process and learn about the local way of life.

“Our rice is grown chemical-free and is GAP [Good Agricultural Practices]-certified,” says Nakowong, “We’re also sending rice samples to be tested in labs so they can be certified for organic rice, so we can export to countries like Japan.”

Words by Sirinuch Borsub