Background: There are many local black rice cultivars in Indonesia, yet only a few of these are formally described in the literature. It has been reported that black rice has many phytochemical variants which may contribute to its use as a functional food, including nutraceuticals and secondary metabolites such as anthocyanin, oryzanol, and more. The purpose of this article was to review literature describing black rice cultivars from Indonesia, with a particular focus on its potential use as a functional food. Our literature search revealed several articles that describe black rice in relation to its nutraceutical properties and its role in reducing non-communicable diseases. Other studies describe the diversity of local pigmented rice and its potential for lowering the risk of hyperlipidemia, hyperglycemia, and for cancer prevention. Black rice has been described as a functional food in several countries; however, there is great diversity among cultivars and further research on Indonesian varieties will determine whether local variants are candidates as well for the development of functional foods. Keywords: black rice cultivar, functional food, non-communicable diseases, nutraceutical, phytochemical

Prototype strain MG409 (arg11-1) is a severe arginine bradytroph with greatly reduced ornithine and arginine pools, although all known enzymes required for arginine biosynthesis are functional. To identify the function required for normal arginine production impaired in MG409, we have cloned, sequenced, and performed a first molecular characterization of ARG11. We show that the ARG11 open reading frame encodes a putative 292-residue protein with a predicted molecular mass of 31.5 kDa. Sequence similarities, a tripartite organization, and six potential hydrophobic transmembrane spans suggest that Arg11p belongs to the mitochondrial integral inner membrane carrier family. We have used immuno-Western blotting and hemagglutinin epitope-tagged derivatives of Arg11p, Arg8p (a mitochondrial matrix marker), and Arg3p (a cytosolic marker) to demonstrate that Arg11p is confined to the mitochondria and behaves like an integral membrane protein. A deletion created in ARG11 causes the same arginine-leaky behavior as the original arg11-1 mutation, which yields a premature stop codon at residue 266. Arg11p thus appears to fulfill a partially redundant function requiring its 27 carboxyl-terminal amino acids. As a working hypothesis, we propose that Arg11p participates in the export of matrix-made ornithine into the cytosol.

Anthocyanin of pigmented rice inhibits the growth of cancer cells. The cytotoxicity and apoptosisinducing properties of local black rice (cv Cempo Ireng) extracts and fractions, which contain anthocyanin including cyanidin 3-glucoside and peonidin 3-glucoside, on human cervical cancer cell line (HeLa cells) has been evaluated. The pigmented rice bran was extracted and fractionated using methanol-HCl. The MTT test was performed on HeLa cell cultures to observe the IC50 value. Preparative TLC was performed to obtain the fractions of black rice bran. Cyanidin 3-glucoside and peonidin 3-glucoside were identified in the pigmented rice bran extract and fractions using UHPLC. Flowcytometry analysis was performed to measure the percentage of apoptotic cells. Our results suggest that the fractions are more toxic than the methanolic crude extract with IC 50 values of 85.95 ± 5.56 μg/mL (the lowest one) and 408.13 ± 51.9 μg/mL, respectively. The concentration of cyanidin 3-glucoside and peonidin 3-glucoside in the methanolic extract were 1.89 and 0.84 μg/mg, respectively. The apoptosis induction by fractions F2 and F4 (52 and 55%) were significantly higher compared to fraction F3 and F5 (30 and 33%) and doxorubicin (21%). Cyanidin 3-glucoside was detected in F4 (0.14 μg/ml) while peonidin 3-glucoside in F2 (0.012 μg/ml), however both were not detected in F3 and F5.

Background: Noncontact Electro Capacitive Cancer Therapy (ECCT) is a novel treatment modality in cancer. Chemokine (C-C motif) ligand 2 (CCL2) has a major role in the outgrowth of metastatic breast cancer. Interleukin 18 (IL18) plays a role in macrophage alteration, which leads to excessive angiogenesis. This study aims to elaborate on the association of CCL2, IL18, IL23α, and TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor-alpha) expression with the anti-proliferative effect of ECCT in rat breast tumor tissue. Methods: Low intensity (18 Vpp) and intermediate frequency (150 kHz) alternating current-electric field (AC-EF) between two capacitive electrodes were exposed as external EF to a rat cage. Twenty-four rats were divided into four groups of six replicates. Breast tumor tissues were collected from 7, 12-dimethylbenz[a]anthracene (DMBA)-induced rats. Two groups were none DMBA-induced rats without ECCT exposure (NINT) and with (NIT). The other two groups were DMBA-induced rats without ECCT exposure (INT) and with (IT). Mammary glands and breast tumor tissues were collected from each group and preserved. Hematoxylin-eosin and immunohistochemistry staining were performed on paraffin sections of tissues using anti-PCNA, anti-ErbB2, anti-Caspase3, and anti-CD68. CCL2, IL18, IL23α, and TNF-α mRNA relative expressions were analyzed using qRT-PCR. Results: ECCT exposure may cause the reduction of PCNA protein expression as well as ErbB2 on breast tumor tissues, but it causes the increase of Caspase3 and macrophage CD68 protein. In rat breast tumor tissues of IT groups, the mRNA expression of CCL2 and IL18 are significantly down-regulated, in contrast with the up-regulated expression of these cytokines in tumor tissues of the INT group. IL23α and TNF- α expression remained similar in both groups. Conclusion: CCL2 and IL18 expressions have an association with the inhibition of breast tumor cell proliferation affected by ECCT exposure