【 Functional components 】

The functional component of Rice Kefiran is mainly viscous polysaccharide, kefiran. About 800mg of kefiran is contained in 1L of Rice Kefiran culture.
In the same amount of kefir, the kefiran content is about 20mg, so the content in Rice Kefiran is about 40-fold by comparison with that in kefir. As for nitrogen components, it contains γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) as the amino acid-related substance from rice and also contains the peptide produced from rice peptide by the lactic acid bacterium.
Furthermore, most of the lactic acid in Rice Kefiran cultures is L (+)-lactic acid, so it properly acts in vivo.

【 Mechanism of action 】

Rice Kefiran is a water-soluble nondigestible polysaccharide and is a species of dietary fibre, so it shows the general functions of water-soluble dietary fibres. Water-soluble fibres are known to act to improve the intestinal environment, regulate lipids in the blood, regulate blood glucose levels, and suppress blood pressure elevation.

Most of the functions of Rice Kefiran and kefir overlap the actions of dietary fibres. However, there is one characteristic of the action of kefiran that the amount required for the expression of action is lower when compared with the general water-soluble dietary fibres.

It is not clear whether the characteristic is derived from the molecular structure of kefiran or the physical property, i.e., high viscosity. In cholesterol uptake inhibition action, it also shows esterification prevention action, which is not shown by the general dietary fibres. The coexistent components, GABA and rice peptide, go a long way to regulate the blood pressure and the blood glucose levels.

It shows the possibility that in the improvement of the intestinal environment, kefiran directly improves the bowel movement at the same time that L. kefiranofaciens produces the peptide that exhibits the antibiotic action to control the colony.