Oryza sativa in the context of "Aromatic rice"

Rice is a cereal grain and in its 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 less commonly, Oryza glaberrima (African rice). Asian rice was domesticated in China some 13,500 to 8,200 years ago; African rice was domesticated in Africa about 3,000 years ago. Rice has become commonplace in many cultures worldwide; in 2023, 800 million tons were produced, placing it third after sugarcane and maize. Only some 8% of rice is traded internationally. China, India, and Indonesia are the largest consumers of rice. A substantial amount of the rice produced in developing nations is lost after harvest through factors such as poor transport and storage. Rice yields can be reduced by pests including insects, rodents, and birds, as well as by weeds, and by diseases such as rice blast. Traditional rice polycultures such as rice-duck farming, and modern integrated pest management seek to control damage from pests in a sustainable way.

Dry rice grain is milled to remove the outer layers; depending on how much is removed, products range from brown rice to rice with germ and white rice. Some is parboiled to make it easy to cook. Rice contains no gluten; it provides protein but not all the essential amino acids needed for good health. Rice of different types is eaten around the world. The composition of starch components within the grain, amylose and amylopectin, gives it different texture properties. Long-grain rice, from the Indica cultivar, tends to stay intact on cooking, and is dry and fluffy. The aromatic rice varieties, such as basmati and jasmine, are widely used in Asian cooking, and distinguished by their bold and nutty flavor profile. Medium-grain rice, from either the Japonica or Indica cultivar, or a hybrid of both, is moist and tender and tends to stick together. Its varieties include Calrose, which founded the Californian rice industry, Carnaroli, attributed as the king of Italian rice due to its excellent cooking properties, and black rice, which looks dark purple due to high levels of anthocyanins, and is also known as forbidden rice as it was reserved for the consumption of the royal family in ancient China. Short-grain rice, primarily from the Japonica cultivar, has an oval appearance and sticky texture. It is featured heavily in Japanese cooking such as sushi (with rice such as Koshihikari, Hatsushimo, and Sasanishiki, unique to different regions of climate and geography in Japan), as it keeps its shape when cooked. It is also used for sweet dishes such as mochi (with glutinous rice), and in European cuisine such as risotto (with arborio rice) and paella (with bomba rice, which is actually an Indica variety). Cooked white rice contains 29% carbohydrate and 2% protein, with some manganese. Golden rice is a variety produced by genetic engineering to contain vitamin A.

The history of rice cultivation is an interdisciplinary subject that studies archaeological and documentary evidence to explain how rice was first domesticated and cultivated by humans, the spread of cultivation to different regions of the planet, and the technological changes that have impacted cultivation over time.

The current scientific consensus, based on archaeological and linguistic evidence, is that Oryza sativa rice was first domesticated in the Yangtze River basin in China 9,000 years ago. Cultivation, migration and trade spread rice around the world—first to much of east Asia, and then further abroad, and eventually to the Americas as part of the Columbian exchange.

Oryza glaberrima, commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species.

The species was first domesticated and grown in West Africa around 3,000 years ago. In agriculture, it makes up an estimated 20% of rice grown commercially in West Africa, having largely been replaced by higher-yielding O. sativa (Asian rice). The number of O. glaberrima varieties grown is declining. Crossbreeding between African and Asian rice is difficult, but there exist some crosses.

Jasmine rice (Thai: ข้าวหอมมะลิ; RTGS: Khao hom mali; Thai pronunciation: [kʰâːw hɔ̌ːm malíʔ]) is a long-grain variety of fragrant rice (also known as aromatic rice). Its fragrance, reminiscent of pandan (Pandanus amaryllifolius) and popcorn, results from the rice plant's natural production of aroma compounds, of which 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline is the most salient. A rapid loss of aromatic intensity leads many Southeast Asians and connoisseurs to prefer each year's freshly harvested "new crop" of jasmine rice. Jasmine rice is a variety of Oryza sativa.

Jasmine rice is grown primarily in Thailand (Thai hom mali or Thai fragrant rice), Cambodia (phka rumduol or Cambodian jasmine rice), Laos, and southern Vietnam. It is moist and soft in texture when cooked, with a slightly sweet flavor. The grains cling and are somewhat sticky when cooked, though less sticky than glutinous rice (Oryza sativa var. glutinosa), as it has less amylopectin. It is about three times stickier than American long-grain rice.

Rice production is the fourth largest among cereals in the United States, after corn, wheat, and sorghum. Of the country's row crop farms, rice farms are the most capital-intensive and have the highest national land rental rate average. In the United States, all rice acreage requires irrigation. In 2000–09, approximately 3.1 million acres in the United States were under rice production; an increase was expected over the next decade, to approximately 3.3 million acres. USA Rice represents rice producers in the six largest rice-producing states of Arkansas, California, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and Texas.

Historically, rice production in the United States was connected to agriculture using enslaved labor in the American South, first planting African rice and other kinds of rice in the marsh areas of Georgia, South Carolina, and later in the Louisiana territory and Texas, frequently in southern plantations. For some regions, this became an important profitable cash crop during the 18th and 19th centuries. In the 20th century, rice production was introduced to California, Arkansas, and the Mississippi Delta in Louisiana. Contemporary rice production in the United States includes African, Asian, and native varieties from the Americas.

Black rice, also known as purple rice or forbidden rice, is a range of rice types of the species Oryza sativa, some of which are glutinous rice.

There are several varieties of black rice available today. These include Indonesian black rice, Philippine heirloom balatinaw black rice and pirurutong black glutinous rice, and Thai jasmine black rice. It is also known as chak-hao in Manipur, India and as "kavuni arisi" or "kavuni rice" in Tamil Nadu, India.

Glutinous rice (Oryza sativa var. glutinosa; also called sticky rice, sweet rice or waxy rice) is a type of rice grown mainly in Southeast Asia and the northeastern regions of South Asia, which has opaque grains and very low amylose content and is especially sticky when cooked. It is widely consumed across Asia.

It is called glutinous (Latin: glūtinōsus) in the sense of being glue-like or sticky, and not in the sense of containing gluten (which, like all rice, it does not). While often called sticky rice, it differs from non-glutinous strains of japonica rice, which also becomes sticky to some degree when cooked. There are numerous cultivars of glutinous rice, which include japonica, indica and tropical japonica strains.

Arborio rice is an Italian medium-grain rice. It is named after the comune (municipality) of Arborio, in the Po Valley, which is situated in the Piedmont region. When cooked, the rounded grains are firm, creamy and chewy compared to other varieties of rice, due to their higher amylopectin starch content. It has a starchy taste and blends well with other flavours. Arborio rice is often used to make risotto; other suitable varieties include Carnaroli, Maratelli, Baldo, and Vialone Nano. Arborio rice is also usually used for rice pudding.

Arborio is a cultivar of the Japonica group of varieties of Oryza sativa.