Abstract: Rice bran oil (RBO) is an emerging cooking oil, known for its high level of bioactive compounds that plays an important role in management of different diseases. The RBO extraction methods directly impact the level of bioactives in RBO, resulting in alterations of therapeutic activities. The greenery extraction process, including supercritical CO₂, subcritical CO₂ soxhlet, subcritical liquid dimethyl ether, enzyme-assisted aqueous, microwave-assisted, and ultrasound-assisted extraction, was applied to obtain RBO from the rice bran. RBO exhibited potential health benefits via upregulation and downregulation of several types of molecular pathways and gene expressions. In addition, the unique physicochemical properties of RBO enable its use in cosmetics, novel drug delivery systems, biosurfactant applications, and the development of moisturising, detoxifying, and anti-ageing products. Several novel formulations, such as nanoemulsions, emulgels, self-nanoemulsifying systems, oleogels, were prepared where RBO significantly improves solubility, bioavailability, and intestinal absorption of lipophilic drugs. Animal feed, biofuel and food products are the other applications of RBO. Considering all these aspects of RBO, this review was designed to explore the in depth RBO extraction phenomenon, the molecular mechanism asserted by functional agents in RBO, and the emerging applications in diverse fields.

Key words: rice bran oil, extraction, edible oil, pharmacological activities, mechanism, application