A scientist working with the Philippine Rice Research Insitute (PhilRice) has discovered a compound in rice seeds that can attract nitrogen fixing bacteria. Called Trigonelline after the leguminous plant Trigonella foenum-graecum (fenugreek) from which it was first isolated and characterized, this alkaloidal compound is also an active medicinal compound.
Dr. Constancio A. Asis Jr. stumbled upon Trigonelline in rice seeds while studying the possibility of extending the nitrogen fixation system in non-leguminous crops such as rice. He said it is Trigonelline that provides health benefits from drinking rice coffee.
He stumbled upon trigonelline while he was trying to identify some compounds that can attract the nitrogen fixing bacteria (called chemo attractants) to the roots of rice.
Initially, he successfully obtained and identified the known chemo attractants for soybean. Using the extracting solutions he used for soybean, he tried to extract the candidate compounds from rice seeds.
Dr. Asis found that the amount of trigonelline in rice seeds significantly varies among the wild type, traditional and improved rice cultivars. Earlier, trigonelline was identified as a compound that can attract nitrogen bacteria of alfalfa.
Because trigonelline is new to him and other rice researchers, Dr. Asis searched the internet and found that this compound has a host of medicinal attributes. For one thing, trigonelline has anti-cancer and anti-tumor properties in the cervix and liver. It also possesses anti-migraine, antiseptic, hypoglycemic and mutagenic properties.
Also found in coffee, trigonelline may help to prevent dental caries by preventing the bacteria Streptococcus mutants from adhering to the teeth.
– Sosimo Ma. Pablico