As you might be able to guess by the title, rice bran oil is the oil derived from rice bran, the arduous outer layer of brown rice that’s eliminated to create white rice, says Elizabeth Ryan, Ph.D., a rice bran researcher and professor on the College of Colorado. 

As soon as the bran (which might seemingly in any other case go to waste) is eliminated, its oil is usually extracted utilizing chemical solvents. There are different applied sciences to extract the oil as effectively, together with expeller urgent and supercritical fluid, which includes utilizing high-pressure carbon dioxide to take away the bran, says Ryan.

As soon as extracted, rice bran oil is then refined to take away waxes and free fatty acids, which regularly burn and smoke when heated, to make it appropriate for cooking.

Rice bran oil is essentially produced1 in Thailand and India, and it’s a preferred cooking oil in lots of Asian international locations2, together with Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, Thailand, and Indonesia. Because it has a smoke level of 490 levels Fahrenheit—one of many highest of all cooking oils—and a impartial but barely nutty taste, rice bran oil is beneficial for frying and baking, says Ryan. It is also a preferred ingredient for stir-fries.

The oil can act as an emulsifier and delay shelf life, so it’s additionally present in extremely processed meals.