The Rural Development Administration (Administrator Lee Seung-don) said on the 8th that "animal tests found that rice cooked by mixing 35% domestic sorghum, 35% red beans, and 30% finger millet helps with blood pressure management."
That day, researchers at the Rural Development Administration's National Institute of Crop Science said they "identified a 'golden mixing ratio' of domestic mixed grains that can maximize anti-diabetic and anti-hypertensive effects and registered a patent."
Through animal tests, the researchers selected domestic mixed-grain varieties that showed anti-diabetic and anti-hypertensive effects: ▲ oat 'Daeyang' ▲ finger millet 'Finger No. 1' ▲ sorghum 'Sodamchal' ▲ red bean 'Arari' ▲ foxtail millet 'Geumsilchal'.
The researchers said that when rice cooked by mixing 35% sorghum, 35% red beans, and 30% finger millet was fed to hypertensive rats, systolic blood pressure fell by about 20%. The researchers noted that amino acids such as histidine and glutamic acid and antioxidant components in the mixed grains appear to have helped regulate blood pressure.
They also said that rice cooked by mixing 30% each of oat and sorghum, 15% each of finger millet and red beans, and 10% foxtail millet lowered fasting blood sugar by 22%. The researchers said, "Phenolic compounds such as avenanthramides, abundant in oats, and taxifolin, contained in sorghum, worked together to slow the digestion and absorption rate of carbohydrates and help mitigate blood sugar spikes."
The Rural Development Administration said it is supporting commercialization by transferring customized mixed-grain technology for anti-diabetic and anti-hypertensive uses to corporations. Daesang Wellife, Hyundai Pharm, GoeSan Mixed Grains, and Cheong Guru have developed and released products such as frozen rice, meal replacements, snacks, porridge, and rice cakes.
Meanwhile, as of 2024, the cultivated area for domestic mixed grains was 38,210 hectares (ha), up 27.3% from a year earlier. Production rose 12.5% to 133,266 tons. Demand for mixed grains increased as more people sought healthy foods.