Ace Food Desk – For a lot of people, cheese is the last “hard thing” to give up. Vegans miss it, and so do people who want to avoid dairy because it doesn’t sit well with them. 

Then there’s the allergy problem. Many non-dairy cheeses lean on nuts, and plenty use gluten-based ingredients. If you’re allergic to dairy, nuts, or gluten, the “safe” options can shrink fast.

That’s why rice is getting a serious look as a way to make a hypoallergenic alternative cheese. Rice is already a familiar food in the U.S., and it’s not a common allergen. 

The surprise is that the most promising protein sources aren’t only from whole grains you’d cook at home, but also from the stuff that gets left behind during rice processing.

Why rice is showing up in cheese

Rice has proteins that can behave in useful ways when you’re trying to copy what dairy does. Cheese needs structure so it can hold together, but it also needs to soften and melt in a way people expect. 

In plant-based cheese, getting both texture and meltability at the same time is tricky.

Mahfuzur Rahman, an assistant professor of food science with the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, and his graduate student Ruslan Mehadi Galib published a study exploring how different rice proteins perform in plant-based cheesemaking.

The team looked at proteins extracted from a single rice cultivar and found that different parts of the same grain can bring different strengths to the final product.

From milling leftovers to dinner plates

Arkansas is the leading rice producer in the United States, harvesting a record 1.43 million acres in 2024 that accounted for nearly 50 percent of the nation’s total rice production. 

The study points out that in 2024 the U.S. produced an estimated 14.3 million tons of rice bran and 24.8 million tons of broken kernels annually, offering a potential yield of about 3.3 million tons of protein for the plant-based protein market.

Those numbers matter because bran and broken kernels are often treated as byproducts. During rice milling, dehulling removes the husk and yields brown rice. 

Further milling turns brown rice into white rice, and that step also produces rice bran and broken kernels.

Rice bran has about 15 percent protein, 15 percent fiber, and 50 percent carbohydrates. Broken kernels, which can be used in pet food and beer brewing, contain about seven percent protein, 75 percent carbohydrates and one percent fiber.

What the researchers tested

The researchers wanted to understand what people actually mean when they talk about rice protein in food products. Instead of treating it as a single ingredient, they examined proteins from different parts of the grain.

“In a single rice grain, we have three different types of protein – from brown rice, white rice and bran,” said Rahman, who is also part of the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences at the University of Arkansas.

“That’s the fundamental understanding we wanted to develop. When you say, ‘rice protein,’ what does that mean? Is it brown rice protein? Bran protein? Broken kernel protein?”

How each rice protein behaved

To see how the proteins acted in a real food, the researchers made three plant-based cheeses using a standard recipe with organic coconut oil and corn starch. They also looked closely at what the proteins were made of. 

Rice proteins are composed of four major subunits: albumin, globulin, glutelin and prolamin, with glutelin being the largest fraction. 

The protein breakdown wasn’t identical across the three sources. Rice bran had the highest amount of albumin, while glutelin was higher in brown rice and kernel protein.

The cheeses made from the rice byproducts contained about 12 percent protein, which stands out in a category where many plant-based cheeses come up short on protein. 

The different rice sources also behaved differently once turned into cheese. 

Broken-kernel protein produced a softer texture and showed higher oil separation and melting properties, along with high glutelin content and moderate solubility, emulsifying and foaming properties. 

Brown rice protein was higher in essential amino acids and released more free amino acids during simulated digestion, and it showed the highest solubility, emulsifying activity and emulsion stability. 

Rice bran protein had lower solubility but significantly higher surface hydrophobicity, and its strong water-holding and foaming capacities improved texture and minimized oil separation in the cheese prototypes.

Future of rice-based cheese

Right now, companies import and distribute rice protein within the U.S. market, and using rice milling byproducts for protein extraction presents a “significant opportunity to expand the U.S.-based rice protein market while promoting a sustainable circular economy.” 

The study also points toward broader food uses, since proteins that foam and emulsify well can sometimes take on jobs that eggs and oils handle in recipes.

The researchers used hexane to extract the rice proteins, while Rahman has been working on a non-chemical method using ultrasound to improve nutritional value. 

Future work on rice protein for alternative cheesemaking is expected to focus on tightening the cheese formulas and checking sensory characteristics, customer acceptance and shelf-life stability. 

“Current research is in progress to tackle these issues, facilitating the transition from laboratory development to practical use,” Rahman said.

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