On March 13, National Association of Grain Sector of Hubei Province(NAGS) released 13 new association standards. A rice research team of HZAU led in setting two standards, Jingchu Grain and Oil - Cooking and Steaming Type of Whole Grain Black Rice (T/HBLS 0016-2023) and Jingchu Grain and Oil - Method for Sensory Evaluation of Whole Grain Black Rice Cooking and Tasting Quality (T/HBLS 0015-2023). They were co-developed by China Grain Wuhan Scientific Research and Design Institute Co., LTD., Wuhan Polytechnic University, Hubei Cereals Oils & Foodstuffs Quality Supervision and Inspection Center, Hubei Hongshan Laboratory and so on.
For a long time, people prefer milled rice for its better taste while a wealth of research results at home and abroad show that staple food like milled rice and white flour has become the main threat to people’s health worldwide. In addition, nearly 20% of rice bran (including pericarp, seed coat, aleurone layer and embryo) is removed during the milling process from paddy rice to milled rice where large amounts of broken rice is produced, thus resulting in huge waste. Mainly composed of starch and a small amount of protein, milled rice has limited nutritional value. The removed rice bran, however, is rich in protein, dietary fiber, unsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, flavonoids and other nutritional elements, as well as oryzanol, γ-Aminobutyric acid and other active ingredients.
Black rice is rich in water soluble pigments—anthocyanins. Anthocyanins has a variety of biological activities including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, anti-aging activities, which can prevent and help treat chronic non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and some cancers. Whole grain black rice refers to the black rice with only the husk removed and contains the complete pericarp, seed coat, aleurone layer, embryo and endosperm. Therefore, whole grain black rice not only contains anthocyanins, but also rich in protein, amino acids, dietary fiber, unsaturated fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, flavonoids, oryzanol, γ-Aminobutyric acid and other nutritional components. Moreover, eating the whole grain black rice would amount to 20% increase in the edible portion relative to polished rice. However, the majority of black rice on the market is less palatable and failed to meet the needs of consumers. Black rice is therefore often sold as a kind of Coarse Cereal and Legume Grain(CCLGs) and cooked into congee. This hinders the promotion of black rice, leading to the inadequate development and utilization of the nutritional and health benefits of black rice.
The research team initiated a new concept of “whole grain black rice” in the standard Jingchu Grain and Oil - Cooking and Steaming Type of Whole Grain Black Rice, defined a kind of suitably cooked rice, and put forward specific requirements for cooking and tasting quality and anthocyanin content indexes. The existing sensory evaluation system and criteria for rice taste were merely applicable to milled white rice, but not to whole grain black rice. Consequently, in line with the new concept, the research group also co-developed and released another standard, Jingchu Grain and Oil - Method for Sensory Evaluation of Whole Grain Black Rice Cooking and Tasting Quality. The two standards will come into effect in April 1, 2023.
After years of relentless efforts, the rice research team of HZAU cultivated a new kind of black rice with the brand name “Huamoxiang” that could be used as staple food with good taste and high anthocyanin content. The two association standards defined a brand new rice product, which was conducive to human health as an alternative diet. On top of its reference value for breeding, processing and consumption of black rice, Huamoxiang could boost the black rice market and upgrade the rice industry.
Source: http://news.hzau.edu.cn/2023/0316/65878.shtml
Translated by Chen Hao
Supervised by Wang Xiaoyan
