At first glance, there is not much difference in the composition of rice flour and wheat flour.
| food conposition(per 100g) | energy[kcal] | protein[g] | lipif[g] | carbohydrate[g] | mineral contents[g]※1 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riceflour (non-ferrous rice) | 356 | 6.0 | 0.7 | 81.9 | 0.3 |
| [Wheatflour]/low-gluten flour/1st class | 349 | 8.3 | 1.5 | 75.8 | 0.4 |
| [Wheatflour]/low-gluten flour/2nd class | 345 | 9.3 | 1.9 | 74.3 | 0.5 |
| [Wheatflour]/midium-gluten flour/1st class | 337 | 9.0 | 1.6 | 75.1 | 0.4 |
| [Wheatflour]/midium-gluten flour/2nd class | 346 | 9.7 | 1.8 | 74.0 | 0.5 |
| [Wheatflour]/high-gluten flour/1st class | 337 | 11.8 | 1.5 | 71.7 | 0.4 |
| [Wheatflour]/high-gluten flour/2nd class | 343 | 12.6 | 1.7 | 70.6 | 0.5 |
(Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan)[1] Light-gluten flour is used for cakes, cookies, and other confections, midium-gluten flour for noodles, and high-gluten flour for bakery flour.
But, the Amino acid score(It takes values 0~100), which indicates whether protein and essential amino acids are contained in good balance is different. the score of Riceflour is 65, and the score of Wheat flour is 41.(polished rice(before processing), wheat is medium-strength flour) As you can see, the score of Riceflour is higher than the Wheat flour, it shows that it is richer in so-called "good quality protein" of the Riceflour than Wheatflour.[2]
Wheat contains gluten, the protein that causes wheat allergies, but rice does not.There are considerably fewer cases of rice allergy in Japan than wheat one. Also, the specified ingredients that contain wheat also do not contain rice.[3]Therefore, you can eat it without much worry about allergies.
Oil absorption rate is lower than that of flour
・Wheatflour 38％ ・Riceflour 21％
※Oil absorption rate of fried chicken thighs
↓
Fried foods that are high in calories with wheat flour can be made healthier with rice flour.
Amylopectin (a type of starch found in rice) gives it a glutinous texture.
It absorbs water more easily than flour, resulting in a moist finish.
Japan's food self-sufficiency rate (on a calorie basis) was 38% in 2022, the lowest among developed countries.[4]
Its food self-sufficiency rate can be increased by 1% if one person eats three pieces of domestic rice-flour bread a month.[2]
Japan relies on imports for much of its wheat, one of its most common staples. If wheatflour noodles and bread made of riceflour spread, it is conceivable that riceflour products could compensate for the unstable wheat supply of recent years.
日本米粉協会, 米粉とは, https://www.komeko.org/what/
農林水産省 九州農政局, 米・米粉をめぐる状況について, https://www.maff.go.jp/kyusyu/seiryuu/komeko/attach/pdf/230307-3.pdf