Nutrition of rice

Rice provides the main source of energy for more than half of the world population. It may be the major as aspect of a diet, or incorporated into the main dish, side dish, or dessert and is commonly used in the preparation of ready to eat breakfast cereals.

The chemical composition of the rice grain varies considering depending upon the genetic factor of plant variety and upon such environmental influences as location and season in which grown, fertilizer treatment, degree of milling and conditions of storage.

The protein level of rice is similar to those of potato and yam on a dry weight basis but is the lowest among the cereals.

A glutelin is the principal protein of rice. Rice also contains small quantities of albumin, globulin and prolamins.

Rice is especially important to persons with wheat allergies and is commonly eaten as a first food by infants, as it offers the least cereal allergy.

Rice contains a reasonable amount of thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, vitamin E and other nutrients. It does not contain any vitamin C, D, or A.

Generally, rice is polished during milling in order to remove the brown hull, which also removes some of the protein, vitamins and minerals. (The once-prevalent deadly disease beriberi resulted from eating polished rice (thiamin removed in the milling process) as a staple food.

The major carbohydrate of rice is starch 72-75%. The amylose content of the starch varies according to grain type the longer grained and superior types containing up to 17.5 per cent amylose while some coarse types are completely devoid it. Rice also contains some free sugars like glucose, sucrose and dextrin.

Rice also has the lowest dietary fiber. Today, most white rice is enriched with vitamins and minerals, to add back nutrients lost in milling.
Nutrition of rice