Parboiled Rice

Why in news?

• The Centre has said it will stop the purchase of excess parboiled rice, of which Telangana is a major producer.

What is Parboiled Rice?

• The dictionary meaning of ‘parboil’ is ‘partly cooked by boiling’. Thus, the expression parboiled rice refers to rice that has been partially boiled at the paddy stage before milling.
• Parboiling of rice is not a new practice and has been followed in India since ancient times.
• However, there is no specific definition of parboiled rice by the Food Corporation of India or the Food Ministry.
• According to the Food Ministry, the total stock of parboiled rice is 40.58 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) as on April 1, 2022. Out of this, the highest stock is in Telangana, followed by Tamil Nadu

How is it prepared today?

• There are several processes for parboiling rice. For example:
  • CFTRI, Mysuru, uses a method in which the paddy is soaked in hot water for three hohours. The water is then drained and the paddy steamed for 20 minutes. Also, the paddy is dried in the shade.
  • Chromate soaking process: It uses chromate, a family of salt in which the anion contains both chromium and oxygen, which removes the odour from the wet rice.
• All processes generally involve three stages — soaking, steaming and drying. After passing through these stages, the paddy goes for milling.

What are the benefits?

• Parboiling makes rice tougher. This reduces the chances of the rice kernel breaking during milling
• Parboiling increases the nutrient value of the rice
• Parboiled rice has a higher resistance to insects and fungi
• Loss of B-vitamins is less in parboiled rice compared to that in raw rice.

Disadvantages:

• The rice becomes darker and may smell unpleasant due to prolonged soaking.
• Parboiled rice takes more time to cook to the same degree of softness than raw rice
• Setting up a parboiling rice milling unit requires a higher investment than a raw rice milling unit.

Add ons:

• The Food Ministry pegs the parboiled rice demand at 20 LMT per annum for distribution under the National Food Security Act, 2013.
• However, the demand for parboiled rice from Telangana has come down in recent years as the production in parboiled rice-consuming states such as Jharkhand, Kerala and Tamil Nadu has increased.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Which of the following are the advantages associated with parboiled rice?

1. Reduces the chances of the rice kernel breaking during milling

2. Increases the nutrient value of the rice

3. Higher resistance to insects and fungi

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 and 3 only

(c) 1 and 2 only

(d) 1,2 and 3

Answer