Power eating
Black rice bran beats blueberries
August 31, 2010
Francine Kopun
FEATURE WRITER
Black rice bran is better for you than blueberries, according to research presented this week at a meeting of the world's largest scientific society.
“Just a spoonful of black rice bran contains more health-promoting anthocyanin antioxidants than are found in a spoonful of blueberries,” according to Zhimin Xu, associate professor at the department of food science at Louisiana State University Agricultural Center in Baton Rouge, La., who reported on the research at a meeting of the American Chemical Society in Boston.
Black rice bran also has less sugar and more fibre, Vitamin E and other fat-soluble antioxidants than blueberries, says Xu.
Anthocyanin antioxidants show promise for fighting heart disease and cancer. They are found in fruits and vegetables that are purplish in colour, like purple cabbage, eggplant, blueberries and black rice bran.
The black rice Xu analyzed was grown in Louisiana for the experiment. “If more and more consumers are interested in black rice, the farmers here are definitely willing to grow them at commercial scale,” he says.
The bran around the rice contained the highest level of anthocyanins, but was too fibrous to be tasty. Xu is working on changing the texture of the bran so that it can be used as a food ingredient to boost the health value of soft-drinks, ice-cream and breakfast cereals.
Only the bran of black rice outperforms blueberries, but polished black rices, available at specialty food stores, can contain as much anthocyanins as blueberries, says Xu. Individual testing would have to be done on each brand to determine the levels, but a good rule of thumb is, the darker the colour, the higher the level of anthocyanins, says Xu.
Rube's Rice shop in the St. Lawrence Market sells several different varieties of black rice.
These include purple Thai rice ($4.95 per kilogram) and organic black Italian rice ($19.90 per kilogram). The shop also sells black forbidden Chinese rice for $18.70 per kilogram.
Black forbidden rice got its name in ancient China because it was reserved for royalty and nobility.
Rube's Rice shop manager Aida Dushi says she gets lots of tourists and chefs shopping for the different varieties of black rice at Rube's.
“My favourite is the black forbidden rice. It has a nutty, earthy flavour,” she says.
Pre-packaged black rice is also available at the Carrot Common on Danforth Avenue under two labels: Y and Y for $6.19 for two kilos, and a gourmet blend of black and mahogany rice by Lundberg for $4.59 for 400 grams.
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