 Botany
Rice is a grass species with erect,
cylindrical, hollow, jointed and striate stems, from 1 to 1.5 meters.
Leaves are flat, with long close sheaths, prominent ligule. Leaf blade is linear,
15 to 30 centimeters long, up to 2 centimeters wide, with rough and serrulate edges armed with minute forward prickles. Panicles are 20 to 30 centimeters long, at first erect, drooping and nodding as
the grains ripen. Spikelets are laxly disposed, stalked,
one-flowered, 7 to 9 millimeters long, awned or awnless. Fruit (grain) is enclosed in, but not adhering to, persistent
pales, oblong, ovoid, or oblong-ovoid, smooth, and somewhat compressed.
Distribution
- Extensively cultivated
in the Philippines.
- Not a native of the Archipelago, of prehistoric introduction.
Constituents
- The rice bran contains
20 percent oil and a higher percentage of protein than the polished
variety.
- Of the 7 percent proteins in rice, 0.14 is a globulin, 0.04 an
albumin, and the remainder, a protein (oryzagenin) similar to
the glutenin of wheat. soluble in dilute alkali.
Properties
- Malted rice is peptic, carminative and tonic.
- Nutritional benefits: Excellent source of carbohydrates; good energy source; low fat, low salt, and no cholesterol; good source of vitamins and minerals, gluten-free.
Parts
used
Grains, polishings,
roots and rhizomes.
 Uses
Edibility / Nutrition
- Rice is staple food for more the 60% of the world population.
-
Rice is a staple article
of diet, and polished in preparation for eating.
-
Polished rice is deficient
in vitamin B and has been cause of beriberi.
- From the polishings is prepared an extract called tiki-tiki, a wonderful
source of vitamin B, both a preventive and cure for infantile beriberi.
- Rice bran is a healthy additive to the making of muffins, cakes, cookies,
providing both fiber and nutritive value.
- Rice wine, tapoi, is prepared from rice.
Folkloric
- Decoction of roots and
rhizomes for anuria.
- Lye from burned culms is considered abortive.
- Decoction and poultices of grains are emollient.
- Poultice of soft rice, applied to back and chest for coughs and bronchitis.
- Rice water used as an enema.
- Rice, boiled, drained and mashed, is made into a paste or moulded into balls and applied to boils, sores, swellings, and skin blemishes.
- Sticky glutinous rice used to treat upset stomachs, heartburn, and indigestion.
- Extracts of brown rice have been used to treat warts, breast and stomach cancers. Also used for indigestion, nausea, and diarrhea.
- In Cambodia, hulls of mature plants used for treating dysentery.
- In Malaysia, boiled rice greens used as eye lotion and inflammation of inner body tissues.
- Dried powdered rice used for skin ailments.
- In India, rice water is prescribed as ointment to counteract inflamed surfaces.
Others
- Oil and furfuran: Rice oil and furfural is obtained from crude rice bran. Rice bran oil is used as edible oil, in soap and fatty acids manufacturing. Also used in cosmetics, synthetic fibers, detergents, and emulsifiers.
- Cellulose: Rice hulls are made into cellulose products, like rayon.
- Rice mill fuel by-product of carbonaceous ash is a source of sodium
silicate, soap, pigments, carbon.
- Fuel: Rice husks is used as fuel.
- Paper: Rice straw can also be a source of paper.
Used in board and paper manufacturing, packing and building materials, and as an insulator.
-
Also used in making compost and chemical derivatives.
- Brooms: Bundled rice straw used in the making of brooms.
- Ashes of hulls used for cleaning of discolored teeth.
- Beri-beri: From rice polishings, bran is extracted and used as an excellent source of vitamin B to prevent and cure beri-beri.
Studies
• Antianaphylactic: The evaluation of antianaphylactic effect of Oryza sativa L. in rats: Study showed the extract
of OS possess antianaphylactic activity by inhibition of release of
mast cells in vivo and in vitro.
• Diabetes: An investigation of indigenous
plants used as traditional phytotherapies for the control and treatment
of diabetes. There is a plenitude of folkloric hypoglycemic plants;
Oryza sativa is one of them. In the investigation, the "Antidiabetic
Flour" is obtained from 6 plants in equal amounts of 2 Kg from
each plant: the dried underground part of Daucus carrota and the seeds
of Oryza sativa, Cicer arietinum, Hordeum vulgare, Triticum aestivum
and Zea mays. In a dietary regimen for diabetes, bread from this mix
is eaten every morning with fresh cow's butter for 2 months.
• Asthma: Effect of Oryza
sativa extract on the progression of airway inflammation and remodeling
in an experimental animal model of asthma: Ethanolic extract
of black rice may play a role in attenuating the progression of airway
inflammation and suggests a potential for OS in the asthma prevention
and treatment.
• In vitro Carbohydrate Hydrolysis / Glycemic and Insulinemic Indices: Study of Hassawi rice
showed a similar GR (glycemic index) to UBR (Uncle Ben's Rice), although with a lower insulin response. There were differences in RAG (rapidly available glucose) and SAG (slowly available glucose). Differences may be important in terms of metabolic impact and outcome on diabetes.
• Processing Effects: Study evaluated effects of processing on rice. A decrease in minerals occur during milling. Mineral content is decreased in processed rice. Results suggest milling should be designed to remove the pericarp but to retain the other contents and as much aleurone layer as possible.
• Antioxidant and Nutrient Analysis of Ten Cultivars: Study
evaluated ten medicinal rice cultivars from South Indian states for phytochemical content, nutrient analysis, phenols and antioxidant property. Kullakar showed the highest flavonoid content. Njavara yellow the highest phenol content, with high protein content.
Availability
Commercial cultivation. |
