Riceberry () is a

rice Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...

variety from

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, a cross-breed of ''jao hom nin'' (JHN, a local non-glutinous purple rice) and ''khao dawk mali 105'' ( hom mali rice). The variety was created in 2002 by the Rice Science Center,

Kasetsart University Kasetsart University (; ; commonly Kaset or KU) is a public university, public research university in Bangkok, Thailand. It is the largest university in Thailand. It was Thailand's first agriculture, agricultural university and Thailand's third ...

, Kamphaeng Saen Campus,

Nakhon Pathom Nakhon Pathom (, ) is a city (''thesaban nakhon'') in central Thailand, the former capital of Nakhon Pathom province. One of the most important landmarks is the giant Phra Pathommachedi. The city is also home to Thailand's only Bhikkhuni temple W ...

, Thailand. The outcome is a soft, deep purple

whole grain A whole grain is a grain of any cereal and pseudocereal that contains the endosperm, germ, and bran, in contrast to refined grains, which retain only the endosperm. As part of a general healthy diet, consumption of whole grains is associated ...

rice. Riceberry is grown primarily in northern and

northeastern Thailand Northeast Thailand or Isan (Isan/, ; ; also written as Isaan, Isarn, Issarn, Issan, Esan, or Esarn; from Pāli ''isāna'' or Sanskrit ईशान्य ''īśānya'' "northeast") consists of 20 provinces in northeastern Thailand. Isan is T ...

. The wet season months of August through December are suitable for riceberry planting.

Characteristics

Nutrition

Riceberry contains

anthocyanin Anthocyanins (), also called anthocyans, are solubility, water-soluble vacuole, vacuolar pigments that, depending on their pH, may appear red, purple, blue, or black. In 1835, the German pharmacist Ludwig Clamor Marquart named a chemical compou ...

s and

carotenoid Carotenoids () are yellow, orange, and red organic pigments that are produced by plants and algae, as well as several bacteria, archaea, and fungi. Carotenoids give the characteristic color to pumpkins, carrots, parsnips, corn, tomatoes, cana ...

s, and has a

glycemic index The glycemic (glycaemic) index (GI; ) is a number from 0 to 100 assigned to a food, with pure glucose arbitrarily given the value of 100, which represents the relative rise in the blood glucose level two hours after consuming that food. The GI of ...

of 62.

Governmental support

The Commerce Ministry aims to increase riceberry cultivation from 5,000 rai to 20,000 rai (3,200 hectares) by 2018 to address in the world market demand for organic brown rice. The yield from 5,000 rai amounts to only 1,500

tonne The tonne ( or ; symbol: t) is a unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms. It is a non-SI unit accepted for use with SI. It is also referred to as a metric ton in the United States to distinguish it from the non-metric units of the s ...

s. Demand for premium organic rice is still small, accounting for only one to two percent of total rice exports, but as riceberry sells for two or three times the price of white rice, it has the potential to increase farming incomes. Riceberry sold in the domestic market for about 50

baht The baht (; , ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). Prior to decimalisation, the baht was divided into eight ''fueang'' (, ), each of eight ''at'' (, ). The ...

a kilogram, while the export price was 200 baht per kilogram.

References

{{Varieties of rice Rice varieties Agriculture in Thailand