pic.1# Black rice Manipuri Cha Khao
In late 90s after the invention of genetically modified (GM) crops people have a craze towards the use of GM crops. But very soon due to certain demerits of GM crops, organic farming is again trending in 21st century. Now-a-days people are in search of high nutritional and chemical free food. One of the best example of organic food is black rice, a type of the rice species Oryza sativa L. which is black in colour, glutinous, packed with high level of nutrients and mainly cultivated in Asia. As we all know rice is a staple food of many developing countries.
About half of the world population consumes white rice as their major source of carbohydrate, but what if we replace this white rice with black rice which is not only a good source of carbohydrate but also rich in some essential vitamins, minerals and antioxidant. Many of us gets confused when it comes to comparison of two healthy foods but it can be done easily with biochemical analysis.
COMPARISON OF BIOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS BETWEEN A BLACK RICE VARIETY AND A WHITE RICE VARIETY :
Control rice variety – Kusumkali ( white rice var.)
Test rice variety – Manipuri Cha-Khao (A black rice var.)
Kusumkali is an indigenous white rice variety of Western Odisha. It is a high yielding as well as having medium rice grain, glutinous in nature.
Manipuri Cha-Khao is a very popular black rice variety cultivated in all the states of North East India and also in some parts of Western Odisha. It is an indigenous black rice variety of Manipur and has recently got GI tag (GI Reg. No. 602) in 2020 due to it’s unique color and aroma (1).
Unharmed seeds of both Kusumkali and Manipuri Cha-Khao are collected from Badturang (21º27ʹ27.4ʺN 84º9ʹ14.2ʺE) village of Padiabahal ,Sambalpur, Odisha. Some samples of both rice varieties were taken and nutritional values like sugar, starch, protein, anthocyanin and flavonoids are measured.
Results:
| PARAMETERS | Kusumkali (White Rice) | Manipuri Cha-Khao( Black rice) |
| Starch (mg/g) | 290.1 | 408.7 |
| Sugar (mg/g) | 161.7 | 208.3 |
| Protein (mg/g) | 17.14 | 51.55 |
| Anthocyanin (µg/g) | 16.5 | 50 |
| Flavonoid (µg/g) | 20.1 | 97 |
CONCLUSION:
Rice is a staple food because it is easily cultivated and gives higher energy as compare to any other food, Manipuri Cha-khao contains high amount of carbohydrate which makes it a good source of energy, high Protein content which can make this food as a cheap and reliable source to replace animal protein, it also contains higher amount of anti-oxidants like anthocyanin and flavonoids compare to Kusumkali which provides protective mechanism to our body from Reactive oxygen species (ROS), free radicals and thus prevents any modification on cellular metabolism as well as premature cell death. People these days who are searching for good quality organic food to add in their diet must try Manipuri Cha-Khao(Black Rice) and take advantage of its nutritional as well as medicinal values.
(The Manipuri Cha-Khao Black Rice is available at our Farm (Bolangir,Odisha), People can order online from our Product section of this site)
Aliza Priyadarshini
Msc(Botany)
Sambalpur University, Burla ,Sambalpur.
email@ priyadarshinialija@gmail.com
