Rice: Nutritional and Cooking Properties

Generality

Rice is a cereal consisting mainly of the caryopsis of the "Oryza sativa, an annual herbaceous plant belonging to the Poaceae family (Graminaceae).

The seeds of "Oryza sativa, in all its subspecies and cultivars, cover almost all of the world production of rice, while only 5% comes from other species, such as the "Oryza glaberrima African.

It is conceivable that rice was born 4000 years before the birth of Christ in Asia (China), near the Himalayan mountain range; from there it spread to the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

Today, rice is grown all over the world and meets 50% of the food demands for the general population. In Italy it is produced mainly in Piedmont, Lombardy, Emilia Romagna and Veneto; secondly in Tuscany, Sardinia and Calabria.