White rice in the context of "Cereal germ"

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.

Sake, saké (Japanese: 酒, Hepburn: sake; English: IPA: /ˈsɑːki, ˈsækeɪ/ SAH-kee, SAK-ay), or saki, also referred to as Japanese rice wine, is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name Japanese rice wine, sake, and indeed any East Asian rice wine (such as huangjiu and cheongju), is produced by a brewing process more akin to that of beer, where starch is converted into sugars that ferment into alcohol, whereas in wine, alcohol is produced by fermenting sugar that is naturally present in fruit, typically grapes. This process is called Multiple Parallel Fermentation.

Although similar, the brewing process for sake differs from the process for beer, in which the conversion from starch to sugar and then from sugar to alcohol occurs in two distinct steps. Like other rice wines, these conversions occur simultaneously when brewing sake. The typical alcohol content also differs between sake, wine, and beer; while most beer contains 3–9% ABV and wine generally contains 9–16% ABV, undiluted sake contains 18–20% ABV (although this is typically lowered somewhat by diluting with water prior to bottling).

Brown rice is a whole grain rice with only the inedible outer hull removed. This kind of rice sheds its outer hull or husk but the bran and germ layer remain on, constituting the brown or tan colour of rice. White rice is the same grain without the hull, the bran layer, and the cereal germ. Red rice, gold rice, and black rice (also called purple rice) are all whole rice with differently pigmented outer layers.

A rice huller or rice husker is an agricultural machine used to automate the process of removing the chaff (the outer husks) of grains of rice. Throughout history, there have been numerous techniques to hull rice. Traditionally, it would be pounded using some form of mortar and pestle. An early simple machine to do this is a rice pounder. Later even more efficient machinery was developed to hull and polish rice. These machines are most widely developed and used throughout Asia, the most popular modern type in use today is the Engelberg huller designed by German Brazilian engineer Evaristo Conrado Engelberg in Brazil and first patented in 1885.

The Engelberg huller uses steel rollers to remove the husk. Other types of huller include the disk or cono huller which uses an abrasive rotating disk to first remove the husk before passing the grain to conical rollers which polish it to make white rice; this is done repeatedly since other sides of circular side of rice are not husked. Rubber rollers may be used to reduce the amount of breakage of the grains, so increasing the yield of the best quality head rice, but the rubber rollers tend to require frequent replacement, which can be a significant drawback.

A rice polisher is a machine for buffing (or "polishing") kernels of rice to change their appearance, taste, and texture or for transforming brown rice into white rice.

Thiamine deficiency is a medical condition of low levels of thiamine (vitamin B₁). A severe and chronic form is known as beriberi. The name beriberi was possibly borrowed in the 18th century from the Sinhalese phrase බැරි බැරි (bæri bæri, "I cannot, I cannot"), owing to the weakness caused by the condition. The two main types in adults are wet beriberi and dry beriberi. Wet beriberi affects the cardiovascular system, resulting in a fast heart rate, shortness of breath, and leg swelling. Dry beriberi affects the nervous system, resulting in numbness of the hands and feet, confusion, trouble moving the legs, and pain. A form with loss of appetite and constipation may also occur. Another type, acute beriberi, found mostly in babies, presents with loss of appetite, vomiting, lactic acidosis, changes in heart rate, and enlargement of the heart.

Risk factors include a diet of mostly white rice, alcoholism, dialysis, chronic diarrhea, and taking high doses of diuretics. In rare cases, it may be due to a genetic condition that results in difficulties absorbing thiamine found in food. Wernicke encephalopathy and Korsakoff syndrome are forms of dry beriberi. Diagnosis is based on symptoms, low levels of thiamine in the urine, high blood lactate, and improvement with thiamine supplementation.

Gobindobhog (Bengali: গোবিন্দভোগ) is a rice cultivated mostly in West Bengal in India. It is a short grain, white, aromatic, sticky rice having a sweet buttery flavor. It derives its name from its usage as the principal ingredient in the preparation of the offerings to Govindaji, the family deity of the Setts of Kolkata.

Gobindobhog was traditionally cultivated in the districts of Bardhaman, Hooghly, Nadia and Birbhum. Later, it began to be cultivated in Bankura and Purulia.