Guide · Process
How is HMPA water made?
Short answer
HMPA is made by fermentation. Lactic acid bacteria convert ferulic acid, a compound in rice bran, into HMPA under low-oxygen conditions. The ferment is purified into a standardised ingredient, a measured dose (about 23 mg a serve) is dissolved into water, and a lab checks the amount with HPLC. You can't reliably make it at home.
The process, step by step
- Start with rice bran. Bran, the outer layer polished off brown rice, is rich in ferulic acid (HMCA), the compound HMPA is made from.
- Ferment it without much oxygen. Certain lactic acid bacteria, the same family that sours curd, carry enzymes that reduce ferulic acid to HMPA. Published patents use *Lactobacillus plantarum* and *Weissella* strains in low-oxygen tanks (JP7303509B2, WO2023145966A1).
- Purify and standardise. The ferment is filtered and purified, then dried into a powder with a fixed HMPA content, so every gram carries a known amount.
- Dose it into water. HMPA dissolves easily and is almost tasteless, so a measured amount, about 23 mg a serve, goes straight into the water. No sugar or flavour is needed to hide it.
- Pack it. Tokusui uses a 600 mL PET bottle. Get Waisted uses a 330 mL aluminium can, which keeps out light and air.
- Test every batch. A lab measures the HMPA with HPLC (liquid chromatography, read at 280 nm), the method Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency has validated for HMPA in foods (CAA).
Can you make HMPA water at home?
Not in any way you could rely on. Rice and rice bran do contain ferulic acid, and home ferments such as kanji or fermented rice water (pakhala, panta bhat) do involve lactic acid bacteria. Some HMPA may form. But nobody has measured how much, and the industrial process depends on chosen strains, controlled oxygen and purification that a kitchen can't copy.
| Home rice ferment | HMPA water | |
|---|---|---|
| HMPA per glass | Unknown, never measured | Measured, about 23 mg a serve |
| Bacteria | Whatever is in the kitchen | Selected strains, then removed by purification |
| Taste | Sour, starchy | Like plain water |
| Safety | Spoilage risk if the ferment goes wrong | Made and tested under food-safety rules |
Traditional ferments are good food in their own right. Just don't expect one to match the 23 mg dose used in the HMPA research.
Can you extract HMPA from rice bran yourself?
No. Raw rice bran holds ferulic acid, not much HMPA. Turning one into the other takes a bacterial fermentation, and isolating HMPA takes lab purification. Eating whole grains does give your own gut bacteria ferulic acid to work with, and they convert some of it into HMPA. That's the natural route, and the amount varies from person to person.
What's in a can of HMPA water?
- Water.
- HMPA ingredient: the purified fermented-rice-bran powder, dosed to about 23 mg of HMPA.
- Nothing to mask the taste, because HMPA has almost none.
Get Waisted's final ingredient list and nutrition panel will be printed on the can and shown in each batch report. For how HMPA water compares with mineral or electrolyte water, read What is HMPA water?
Questions people ask
How is HMPA made?
By fermentation. Lactic acid bacteria convert ferulic acid from rice bran into HMPA under low-oxygen conditions. The ferment is then purified into a standardised powder with a known HMPA content.
How do you make HMPA water at home?
You can't reliably. A home rice ferment may contain some HMPA, but the amount is unknown and probably far below the 23 mg a day used in research. HMPA water uses a purified, measured ingredient and lab testing.
Is HMPA water just fermented rice water?
No. HMPA water is plain drinking water with a measured dose of purified HMPA. It contains no rice starch or live bacteria and tastes like water, unlike sour home-fermented rice water.
How is the HMPA in water measured?
With HPLC (high-performance liquid chromatography), reading at 280 nm. Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency has validated this approach for HMPA in foods. Get Waisted publishes the measured amount for every batch.
Which bacteria make HMPA?
Published patents describe lactic acid bacteria such as Lactobacillus plantarum and Weissella species, which carry enzymes that reduce ferulic acid to HMPA when oxygen is low.
Sources
- 01JP7303509B2: method for producing HMPA by anaerobic conversion of ferulic acid with lactic acid bacteria (Japanese patent).Patent
- 02WO2023145966A1: producing HMPA with Weissella bacteria from a ferulic-acid-rich rice-bran extract (international patent application).Patent
- 03Consumer Affairs Agency of Japan: validation of an analytical method for HMPA in foods (Japanese).Government (Japan)
- 04Suntory customer FAQ: HMPA and fermented rice bran (Japanese).Manufacturer
- 05Ohue-Kitano et al. (2019). HMPA produced from HMCA by gut microbiota improves host metabolic condition in diet-induced obese mice. Nutrients.Peer-reviewed · mice
- 06ASCII.jp: why Suntory picked HMPA from about 50 candidates (Japanese).Press
Keep reading
- Guide · CategoryWhat is HMPA water?What is HMPA water, does it work, is it safe and can you buy it in India? A plain-English guide to the rice-bran water from Japan, with every study linked.→
- Guide · SafetyHMPA water side effects: is it safe?Does HMPA water have side effects? What the studies report, the dose used in research, who should check with a doctor first, and India's FSSAI status.→
- Guide · IngredientWhat is HMPA?HMPA (full form: 3-(4-hydroxy-3-methoxyphenyl)propionic acid) is a compound from fermented rice bran. Its benefits, how it works, safety and the studies.→
Batch 002 is in the lab
Report first. Can second.