Where are the latest production areas of black rice?
Black rice is an ancient and precious rice variety of China, belonging to the japonica non-glutinous rice category, formed through long-term cultivation of the grass-family plant rice, with a long planting history. It is said that more than two thousand years ago during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, it was first discovered by Zhang Qian, the Marquis of Bowang, in Yangxian County, Shaanxi. It has long been known as the reputation of black pearl and the king of rice in the world. Now let us take a look together at where black rice production areas are!
Where are the black rice production areas?
Black rice is produced in many places in China, with representative ones including Shaanxi black rice, Guizhou black glutinous rice, Hunan black rice, etc. It is said that the black rice discovered by Zhang Qian is the Shaanxi Yangxian black rice that has been passed down to this day. Because black rice is delicious, from the era of Emperor Wu of the Western Han Dynasty until the late Qing Dynasty, Yangxian black rice was all tribute rice presented to emperors. During the Gengzi Incident, although Empress Dowager Cixi was like a stray dog, she still could not forget the fragrance of Yangxian black rice and ordered it to be presented.
Nutritional value of black rice
1. The inorganic salts contained in black rice, such as manganese, zinc, and copper, are mostly 1 to 3 times higher than those in rice, and it also contains special components lacking in rice, such as vitamin C, chlorophyll, anthocyanins, carotene, and cardiac glycosides, so black rice is more nutritious than ordinary rice. Eating more black rice has the effects of stimulating the appetite and benefiting the middle, strengthening the spleen and warming the liver, improving eyesight and invigorating blood, and smoothing astringency and supplementing essence. It has a very good nourishing effect on premature white hair in young people, postpartum weakness in women, general weakness after illness, as well as anemia and kidney deficiency.
2. Black rice contains 8.5 to 12.5% crude protein, 2.7 to 3.8% crude fat, 75 to 84% carbohydrates, and 1.7 to 2% crude ash. The inorganic salts contained in it, such as manganese, zinc, and copper, are mostly 1 to 3 times higher than those in rice. The rice porridge cooked with black rice is fragrant and glossy, soft and glutinous and palatable, rich in nutrition, and has a very good nourishing effect, so it is called blood-enriching rice, longevity rice, etc.
How to identify true and false black rice
1. White vinegar identification: take some black rice and drip white vinegar on it respectively. After a few minutes, if red appears, this proves it is real black rice, because the anthocyanins on the surface layer of black rice react chemically with acid, producing a color similar to red wine.
2. Smell identification: take a small amount of black rice in your hand, breathe a mouthful of hot air onto the black rice, and then immediately smell its odor. High-quality black rice has a normal fresh fragrance, while black rice with slight other odors or sour odor, mildew, or rotten smell is generally inferior or poor-quality black rice.
3. Scrape the rice surface layer: if you do not know whether black rice is true or false and suspect it is dyed, the identification method is to scrape off all the surface layer of the black rice and observe the color of the rice grains. If it is white, then it is real black rice; otherwise, it may be dyed black rice.