white rice
{{short description|Milled rice that has had its husk, bran, and germ removed}}
File:Half a cup of rice. Brown rice is the best choice.JPG
White rice is milled rice that has had the husk, bran, and germ removed. This alters the flavor, texture and appearance of the seed; helps prevent spoilage (extends its storage life); and makes it easier to digest. After brown rice is milled (hulled), it is polished, resulting in rice with a bright, white, shiny appearance. The milling and polishing processes both remove nutrients.
An unbalanced diet based on unenriched white rice leaves many people vulnerable to the neurological disease beriberi, due to a deficiency of thiamine (vitamin B1).{{cite book |last1=Carpenter |first1=Kenneth J. | name-list-style = vanc |title=Beriberi, white rice, and vitamin B : a disease, a cause, and a cure |url=https://archive.org/details/beriberiwhiteric0000carp |url-access=registration |date=2000 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley, CA |isbn=978-0-520-22053-9}} White rice is often enriched with some of the nutrients stripped from it during its processing.{{cite web|url=http://nobelprize.org/educational/medicine/vitamin_b1/eijkman.html|title=Christiaan Eijkman, Beriberi and Vitamin B1|work=nobelprize.org|access-date=28 September 2015}} Enrichment of white rice with B1, B3, and iron is required by law in the United States when distributed by government programs to schools, nonprofits, or foreign countries.{{cite web|url=http://www.livestrong.com/article/319009-white-rice-diet|title=How Is White Rice Healthy for Our Body?| first = Sharon | last = Perkins | name-list-style = vanc |work=LIVESTRONG.COM|access-date=28 September 2015}}{{cite web|url=https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/7/1431c|title=7 U.S. Code § 1431c – Enrichment and packaging of cornmeal, grits, rice, and white flour available for distribution|work=cornell.edu|access-date=28 September 2015}} As with all natural foods, the precise nutritional composition of rice varies slightly depending on the variety, soil conditions, environmental conditions, and types of fertilizers.
Adopted over brown rice in the second half of the 19th century because it was favored by traders, white rice has led to a beriberi epidemic in Asia.{{cite journal | vauthors = Arnold D | title = British India and the "beriberi problem", 1798–1942 | journal = Medical History | volume = 54 | issue = 3 | pages = 295–314 | date = July 2010 | pmid = 20592882 | pmc = 2889456 | doi=10.1017/s0025727300004622}}{{cite news | first1 = John | last1 = Cavanagh | first2 = Robin | last2 = Broad | name-list-style = vanc |url=https://ips-dc.org/why_billions_eat_unhealthy_riceand_shouldnt/|title=Why Billions Eat Unhealthy Rice and Shouldn't | work = Institute for Policy Studies|date=2011-03-09 |access-date=2018-06-01 }} At various times, starting in the 19th century, brown rice and other grains such as wild rice have been advocated as healthier alternatives.{{cite web | first = Bill | last = Hendrick | name-list-style = vanc |url=http://diabetes.webmd.com/news/20100614/brown-rice-vs-white-rice-which-is-better|title=Brown Rice vs. White Rice: Which Is Better?|work=WebMD|access-date=28 September 2015}}{{cite web | url = http://graphics.straitstimes.com/STI/STIMEDIA/Interactives/2016/05/gi-rice-quiz/index.html|title=White or brown rice? Mee pok or spaghetti? Take our food quiz and digest the facts about glycaemic index.|website=The Straits Times|date=27 May 2016 |access-date=2016-06-15}} The bran in brown rice contains significant dietary fiber and the germ contains many vitamins and minerals.{{cite web | url = http://recomparison.com/comparisons/100276/white-rice-vs-brown-rice-vs-basmati/ | title = Difference between white and brown rice | work = reComparison }}
Milling rice
{{see also|Rice huller}}
Before mechanical milling, rice was milled by a hand pounding technique with large mortar and pestle type devices. Some versions of this improved uniformity of the product, but with mechanical milling much larger quantities were able to be produced. In the late 19th century, different machines were produced like the Huller & Sheller Mills (1870) and the Engelberg Milling Machine (1890). By 1955, new machinery had been developed in Japan that had significantly improved the quality and output capacity.{{cite book |last1=Zhang |first1=Baichun |title=Explorations in the History and Heritage of Machines and Mechanisms |date=2019 |publisher=Springer |pages=90–94 |isbn=9783030035389 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HaZ-DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA90}}
Nutritional content
{{nutritionalvalue
| name = Rice, white, long-grain, raw, unenriched
| kJ=1527
| protein= 7.13 g
| fat= 0.66 g
| carbs = 79.95 g
| fiber = 1.3 g
| sugars = 0.12 g
| thiamin_mg=0.07
| riboflavin_mg=0.049
| niacin_mg=1.6
| pantothenic_mg=1.014
| folate_ug=8
| vitB6_mg=0.164
| calcium_mg = 28
| iron_mg = 0.8
| magnesium_mg=25
| manganese_mg=1.088
| phosphorus_mg=115
| potassium_mg=115
| selenium_ug=15.1
| sodium_mg=7
| zinc_mg=1.09
| water=11.62 g
| source_usda=1
| right=1}}
While brown rice and white rice have similar amounts of calories and carbohydrates, brown rice is a far richer source of all nutrients when compared to unenriched white rice. Brown rice is whole rice from which only the husk (the outermost layer) is removed. To produce white rice, the bran layer and the germ are removed, leaving mostly the starchy endosperm. This process causes the reduction or complete depletion of several vitamins and dietary minerals. Missing nutrients, such as vitamins B1 and B3, and iron, are sometimes added back into the white rice, a process called enrichment.{{cite web|url=http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfcfr/CFRSearch.cfm?fr=137.350 |title=Enriched rice |website=US Food and Drug Administration |access-date=2021-04-06}} Even with the reduction of nutrients, unenriched white rice is still a good source of manganese and contains moderate amounts of other nutrients such as pantothenic acid and selenium.{{cite web |title=Rice, white, long-grain, regular, raw, unenriched |url=https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/169756/nutrients |publisher=USDA |access-date=6 April 2021 |date=1 April 2019}}{{cite web |title=Rice, brown, long-grain, raw |url=https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/fdc-app.html#/food-details/169703/nutrients |publisher=USDA |access-date=6 April 2021 |date=1 April 2019}}
Typically, 100 grams of uncooked rice produces around 240 to 260 grams of cooked grains, the difference in weight being due to absorbed cooking water.
See also
{{portal|Food}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.rice-machines.com/ Rice Mill]
{{commons category|Rice as food}}
{{Varieties of rice}}