Rice Nutrition- Comparison of Different Rice Types

 Rice is the predominant staple food of people in about 40 countries of the world and that makes it the most popular cereal too. Rice provides 20% of the world's dietary energy supply while wheat supplies 19% and maize a mere 5%. With richness of its genetic diversity, thousands of rice varieties are grown throughout the world. Rice nutrition is also indisputable issue. To be precise, rice is a good source of thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and dietary fiber. In its natural unmilled state, rice come in many colors including brown, red, purple, the most famous white and even black. However, all the different rice varieties have different percentages of these nutrients in them. A comparison of rice nutrients' value will make it very clear as to which rice type is better than other types of rice from the perspective of health benefits.

Nutrition Value of Different Rice Types
Different types of rice in world are identified by their color. You will find the white polished rice, brown rice, red rice, purple rice and black rice. The unmilled rice, however, has higher nutrient content than milled or polished white rice. As far as nutritional facts about rice are concerned, apart from being rich in thiamine, riboflavin, niacin and dietary fiber, rice is also a gluten free carbohydrate food and thus can be had by people with celiac disease. It is also a good source of starch. Certain rice varieties help in maintaining a stable blood glucose level. Rice bran may also lower the risk of bowel cancer. The following rice nutrient chart helps in understanding nutritional value of different rice types.

Rice Nutrition Chart

 

Rice Type	Protein (g/100g)	Iron (mg/100g)	Zinc (mg/100g)	Fiber (g/100g)
White Rice (polished)	6.8	1.2	0.5	0.6
Brown Rice	7.9	2.2	0.5	2.8
Red Rice	7.0	5.5	3.3	2.0
Purple Rice	8.3	3.9	2.2	1.4
Black Rice	8.5	3.5	-	4.9

 

Steps Taken to Improve Rice Nutrition
Looking at the extent of rice consumption, there has been an awareness for not only increasing rice production but also to improve rice nutrition through various techniques. Two of such steps that are adopted for improving rice nutrition value involve farmers and rice scientists- these can be called traditional plant breeding techniques and scientific research to improve rice nutritional value.

Plant Breeding Techniques- These techniques use selected rice varieties having superior nutrient content. These superior rice varieties are bred with common rice varieties to enhance their nutrient content.

Scientific Techniques- These techniques modify the genetic code to enhance nutritional value of rice. A new type of rice- the golden rice- is the best example of breakthrough in research regarding rice nutrition. These new rice type, golden rice, contains added carotenoids (precursors to vitamin) from daffodil genes.

Tags:- Brown Rice Calories, Nutritional Value Rice, Rice Nutrition Facts, Rice Nutrition-Comparison Of Different Rice Types, White Rice Calories

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