Abstract
Exogenous proline can improve the growth, aroma intensities, and bioactive compounds of rice. This study evaluated the effects of gamma irradiation under proline conditions on the 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline (2AP), phenolic, and flavonoid contents of rice. Moreover, the bioactive compounds of gamma-irradiated rice under proline conditions that inhibited α-glucosidase and α-amylase were evaluated by in silico study. A low gamma dose (40 Gy) induced the highest rice growth under 5 mM proline concentration. The highest 2AP content was stimulated at a gamma dose of 5－100 Gy under 10 mM proline concentration. At 500 and 1,000 Gy gamma dose, the highest flavonoid and phenolic contents of rice were stimulated. 1-(2-Hydroxy-5-methylphenyl)-ethanone, which had the highest binding affinity (-7.9 kcal/mol) against α-glucosidase, was obtained at 500 and 1,000 Gy gamma dose under 5 and 10 mM proline concentrations. Meanwhile, 6-amino-1,3,5-triazine-2,4(1H,3H)-dione, which had the highest binding affinity (-6.3 kcal/mol) against α-amylase, was obtained under 10 mM proline concentration in non-gamma-irradiated rice. The results indicate that using a combination of gamma irradiation and exogenous proline is suitable for producing new rice varieties. Moreover, the bioactive compounds that were obtained in new rice varieties exhibited health benefits, especially for diabetes mellitus treatment (inhibition of α-glucosidase and α-amylase).