All Topics  
Basmati

 
Basmati

 
   Email Print
   Bookmark   Link
 

 

Basmati
 
 
  Topics Basmati Topic Home

Basmati (, ,) is a variety of long grain rice
Rice

Rice is a staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in tropical Latin America, and East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia, making it the second-most consumed cereal grain, after maize....
, notable for its fragrance and delicate flavour
Flavor

Flavor or flavour is the sensory impression of a food or other chemical substance, and is determined mainly by the chemical senses of taste and olfaction....
. Its name means "the fragrant one" in Sanskrit
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
, but it can also mean the "soft rice." Pakistan
Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
 and India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 are the largest cultivators and exporters of this rice - primarily grown through paddy field
Paddy field

A paddy field is a flooded parcel of arable land used for growing rice and other Aquatic plant. Rice can also be grown in dry-fields, but from the twentieth century paddy field agriculture became the dominant form of growing rice....
 farming in the Punjab region
Punjab region

Punjab , also Panjab , is a region straddling the border between India and Pakistan. The "Five Rivers" are Beas River, Ravi River, Sutlej, Chenab and Jhelum River; all these are tributaries of the Indus river, Jhelum being the biggest one....
.

The grains of basmati rice are longer than non-basmati varieties.






Discussion
Ask a question about 'Basmati'
Start a new discussion about 'Basmati'
Answer questions from other users
Full Discussion Forum



Encyclopedia


Brun Ris
Basmati (, ,) is a variety of long grain rice
Rice

Rice is a staple food for a large part of the world's human population, especially in tropical Latin America, and East Asia, South Asia and Southeast Asia, making it the second-most consumed cereal grain, after maize....
, notable for its fragrance and delicate flavour
Flavor

Flavor or flavour is the sensory impression of a food or other chemical substance, and is determined mainly by the chemical senses of taste and olfaction....
. Its name means "the fragrant one" in Sanskrit
Sanskrit

Sanskrit is a historical Indo-Aryan language, one of the liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism, and one of the 22 official languages of India....
, but it can also mean the "soft rice." Pakistan
Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country located in South Asia and borders Central Asia and the Middle East. It has a 1,046 kilometre coastline along the Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman in the south, and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and People's Republic of China in th...
 and India
India

India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and outlying territories by total area country by geographical area, the List of countries by population country, and the most populous liberal democracy in the world....
 are the largest cultivators and exporters of this rice - primarily grown through paddy field
Paddy field

A paddy field is a flooded parcel of arable land used for growing rice and other Aquatic plant. Rice can also be grown in dry-fields, but from the twentieth century paddy field agriculture became the dominant form of growing rice....
 farming in the Punjab region
Punjab region

Punjab , also Panjab , is a region straddling the border between India and Pakistan. The "Five Rivers" are Beas River, Ravi River, Sutlej, Chenab and Jhelum River; all these are tributaries of the Indus river, Jhelum being the biggest one....
.

The grains of basmati rice are longer than non-basmati varieties. Cooked grains of Basmati rice are characteristically free flowing rather than sticky. Cooked basmati rice can be uniquely identified by its fragrance. Basmati rice is available in two varieties - white rice
White rice

White rice is the name given to milled rice that has had its husk, bran, and cereal germ removed. This is done largely to prevent spoilage and to extend the storage life of the grain....
 and brown rice
Brown rice

Brown rice is Huller or partly milled rice, a kind of whole grain, a natural grain that remains unbleached. It has a mild nutty flavor, is chewier than white rice and becomes rancidification more quickly....
.

Flavour


Basmati rice has a typical pandan-like (Pandanus amaryllifolius
Pandanus amaryllifolius

Pandanus amaryllifolius is a tropical plant in the Pandanus which is known commonly as pandan and used widely in Southeast Asian cooking....
 leaf) flavour caused by the aroma compound
Aroma compound

An aroma compound, also known as odorant, aroma, fragrance or flavor, is a chemical compound that has a smell or odor. A chemical compound has a smell or odor when two conditions are met: the compound needs to be volatile, so it can be transported to the olfactory system in the upper part of the nose, and it needs to b...
 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline
2-Acetyl-1-pyrroline

2-Acetyl-1-pyrroline, abbreviated 2AP, with the IUPAC name 1-ethanone, is an aroma compound and flavor that gives white bread, jasmine rice and basmati rice, the spice pandan , and bread flowers their typical smell...
.

Varieties and hybrids


A number of varieties of basmati rice exist. Traditional ones include Basmati-370, Basmati-385 and Basmati-Ranbirsinghpura(R.S.Pura), while hybrid basmati varieties include Pusa Basmati 1 (also called 'Todal', because the flower has awns). Fragrant rices that are derived from basmati stock but are not considered true basmati varieties include PB2 (also called sugandh-2), PB3 and RH-10.

Scientists at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, Delhi
Delhi

Delhi , sometimes referred to as Dilli , is the List of most populous cities in India metropolis in India and, with over 11 million residents, the List of metropolitan areas by population....
 took the traditional basmati and genetically modified it to produce a hybrid which had most of the good features of traditional basmati (grain elongation, fragrance, alkali content) and the plant was a semi-dwarf type. This basmati was called Pusa Basmati-1. PB1 crop yield is higher than the traditional varieties (up to twice as much).

List of approved varieties


Punjab
Punjab region

Punjab , also Panjab , is a region straddling the border between India and Pakistan. The "Five Rivers" are Beas River, Ravi River, Sutlej, Chenab and Jhelum River; all these are tributaries of the Indus river, Jhelum being the biggest one....
, Kernel Basmati (Pakistan), Dehradun
Dehradun

, is the capital city of the States and territories of India of Uttarakhand in India, and the headquarters of Dehradun District.It is located in the Doon valley, 230 kilometers north of India's capital New Delhi and the Delhi metropolitan area....
, Haryana
Haryana

Haryana is a States and territories of India in the Punjab region of northern India. It is bordered by Punjab and Himachal Pradesh to the north, and by Rajasthan to the west and south....
, Super basmati, Kasturi(Baran,Rajasthan), Basmati 198, basmati 217, basmati 370, basmati 385, basmati 386, Bihar
Bihar

Bihar is a States and territories of India in East India. Bihar is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size 38,202 square mile and 3rd largest by population....
, Kasturi, Mahi Suganda, Pusa, Ranbir, Taraori
Taraori

Taraori or Tarori, as it is sometimes called in the local dialect, is a city and a Tehsil 16 km north of Karnal in Karnal District in the Indian States and territories of India of Haryana....
. Some non-traditional aromatic crosses with basmati characteristics are marketed under a Sugandh designation.

Detection of adulterated strains


Difficulty in differentiating genuine traditional basmati from pretenders and the significant price difference between them has led fraudulent traders to adulterate traditional basmati. To protect the interests of consumers and trade, a PCR
Polymerase chain reaction

The polymerase chain reaction is a technique widely used in molecular biology. It derives its name from one of its key components, a DNA polymerase used to amplify a piece of DNA by in vitro enzyme DNA replication....
-based assay similar to DNA fingerprinting in humans allows for the detection of adulterated and non-basmati strains. Its detection limit for adulteration is from 1% upwards with an error rate of ±1.5%. Exporters of basmati rice use 'purity certificates' based on DNA tests for their basmati rice consignments. See Protocol and . Based on this protocol, which was developed at the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics
Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics

The Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics is an autonomous organization funded by the Department of Biotechnology , Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India....
, Labindia, an Indian company has released kits to detect basmati adulteration.

Patent battle


In September 1997, a Texas
Texas

Texas is a U.S. state located in the South Central United States, nicknamed the Lone Star State. Texas is the second largest U.S. state in both area and population, spanning , and with a growing population of 24.3 million residents....
 company called RiceTec won a patent (U.S. Patent No. 5,663,484) on "basmati rice lines and grains." The patent secures lines of basmati and basmati-like rice and ways of analyzing that rice. RiceTec, owned by Prince Hans-Adam of Liechtenstein
Liechtenstein

The Principality of Liechtenstein is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked country alpine country microstate in Western Europe, bordered by Switzerland to the west and by Austria to the east....
, faced international outrage over allegations of biopiracy
Biopiracy

Biopiracy is a negative term for the appropriation, generally by means of patents, of legal rights over indigenous knowledge - particularly indigenous biomedical knowledge - without compensation to the indigenous groups who originally developed such knowledge....
. It had also caused a brief diplomatic crisis between India and United States with India threatening to take the matter to WTO as a violation of TRIPS
Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights

The Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights is an international agreement administered by the World Trade Organization that sets down minimum standards for many forms of intellectual property regulation....
 which could have resulted in a major embarrassment for the United States. Both voluntarily and due to review decisions by the United States Patent Office, RiceTec has lost most of the claims of the patent, including, most importantly, the right to call their rice lines "basmati." This was a huge victory for Indian farmers who could have faced enormous economic losses from the patent.

List of exporters refused by FDA

  • Evergreen Exports


Glycemic index


According to the , basmati rice has a Medium glycemic index
Glycemic index

The Glycemic index or GI is a measure of the effects of carbohydrates on blood glucose levels. Carbohydrates that break down rapidly during digestion releasing glucose rapidly into the bloodstream have a high GI; carbohydrates that break down slowly, releasing glucose gradually into the bloodstream, have a low GI....
 (GI) of between 56 and 69, thus making it more suitable for diabetics as compared to certain other grains and products made from white flour.

See also


  • Ambemohar
    Ambemohar

    Ambemohar is a rice variant from Maharashtra in India. The short cooked grains have a tendency to break easily and stick together. It is popular in Maharashtra due to its strong fragrance reminiscent of mango blossoms, which is noticeable when the rice is cooked....
  • Domsiah
    Domsiah

    Domsiah is an Iranian variety of rice. It is a long grain rice, with a black spot on one end, which gives it the name, which is Persian language meaning "black end"....
  • Jasmine rice
    Jasmine rice

    Jasmine rice , sometimes known as Thai fragrant rice, is a long-grain variety of rice that has a nutty aroma and a subtle and pandan-like flavor caused by 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline....
  • List of rice varieties
    List of rice varieties

    The following is a list of Variety of rice....
  • Oryza sativa
    Oryza sativa

    Oryza sativa is the plant species known in English language as rice. Oryza sativa has the smallest cereal genome consisting of just 430Mb across 12 chromosomes....
  • Wehani rice
    Wehani rice

    Wehani rice is a variety of aromatic brown rice developed in the late 20th century by Lundberg Family Farms of Richvale, California, California, United States....


Footnotes


External links