Basmati Rice

International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2002, 37, 1±121 Review Basmati rice: a review Paramita Bhattacharjee, Rekha S. Singhal* & Pushpa R. Kulkarni Food & Fermentation Technology Division, University Department of Chemical Technology, University of Mumbai, Matunga, Mumbai, India (Received 21 February 2001; Accepted in revised form 29 August 2001) Summary India contributes about one-third of the world acreage under rice. Rice is available in over 5000 varieties, of which Basmati rice occupies a prime position on account of its extra long super®ne slender grains, pleasant, exquisite aroma, ®ne cooking quality, sweet taste, soft texture, length-wise elongation with least breadth-wise swelling on cooking and tenderness of cooked rice. This article reviews the quality and aroma traits of Basmati rice, particularly the varieties grown in di€erent parts of India and Pakistan, the agronomy, breeding and physiology of the grain, the trade scenario, Agmark grade designation for export and the US patent of new hybrid strains of Basmati. Basmati rice, marketing and trade, quality. Keywords Introduction Rice, Oryza sativa, the staple food of nearly onehalf of world's population, contributes over 20% of the total calorie intake of man. But in Asia, where 95% of the world's rice is produced and consumed, it contributes 40±80% of the calories of the Asian diet. India is one of the largest rice growing countries of the world, second only to China, cultivating 43 million hectares annually, which is about a third of the world acreage under rice (Muthu, 1993). Oryza sativa Linn is the major cereal crop of India, being available in over 5000 varieties di€ering with respect to size, texture, glutinous nature, aroma and cooking quality (Vachhani et al., 1962). Aromatic rice occupies a prime position in Indian culture, not only because of their high quality, but that they have been considered auspicious. India had an immense wealth of aromatic rices, many have been lost during the last three decades as an aftermath of the green revolution where emphasis was on yield rather than quality. These highly valued rices are collec*Correspondent: Fax: 022-414-5614; e-mail: [email protected] tively called `Basmati' (bas ˆ aroma) and are popular not only throughout Asia but also in Europe and USA. Lately, the de®nition of Basmati was changed to include its other ®ne grain qualities. Basmati rice is traditionally grown in the Himalayan foothill regions of India and Pakistan and the name is traditionally associated with this geographical origin (Bligh, 2000). It is generally accepted that good quality Basmati rice is characterized by extra long super®ne slender grains with chalky endosperm and a shape comparable with a Turkish dagger; pleasant and exquisite aroma, sweet taste, dry, ¯u€y and soft texture when cooked, delicate curvature, low amylose, mediumlow gelatinization temperature, 1.5 to 2-fold length-wise elongation with least breadth-wise swelling on cooking and tenderness of cooked rice (Siddiq et al., 1997). As a result of all these properties, Basmati rice commands a premium price in the world market. However, for Indian farmers and the consumers, aroma is rated the highest desired trait followed by taste and elongation after cooking. Basmati rice ± the scented pearl, is nature's gift exclusive to the Indian subcontinent. Following partition in 1947, a sizeable Basmati growing area went to Pakistan, thereby bringing down the acreage and production of Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd The seeds of the traditional Basmati varieties from outside India and Pakistan are produced on a commercial basis. information on the proximate composition of di€erent varieties of Basmati rice is scanty. Bhattacharjee et al.1±8. crop 1998.5%. Cooking quality of Basmati rice is greatly in¯uenced by environmental factors. Photosensitive index/phase is higher in sensitive varieties like traditional Basmati lines and less in insensitive varieties like improved or newly released Basmati types as Pusa Basmati 1 and Haryana Basmati 1 (Ahuja et al. One example is the Pusa variety.. which has a protein content of 9.. hulling and head rice recovery (Ahuja et al. 1±12 .9% although some exceptions exist. Such photoperiod sensitive Basmati rice grown at approximately the same latitude in another country (e. which is too late for a commercial variety. irrigation practices (Singh & Singh. causing lodging under winds and rainy conditions. in¯uences the ripening period. including scented ones. 1995). percentage of milling. Late June or July planting of a sensitive Indian or Pakistani Basmati rice gives a better plant type but the yields are low and the rice may be subjected to early frosts leading to irreversible maturity. The farmer's and miller's concern is to get high price of produce (both paddy and rice) which is determined by market quality standards comprising of shape. Consequently. stem borer and white backed plant hopper (Siddiq et al. Basmati rice compares well with the common rice varieties with respect to protein content. In Pakistan. size and colour of rice. The protein content in common rice varieties. vis-aÁ-vis 0. 1997). spacing.52±2.82% respectively for Basmati as shown in Table 1. particularly during the grain formation stage. Delhi.. Rajasthan and Jammu & Kashmir. ranges from 7. 1996).95±1. In both the countries.25 and 0. Early transplanting impairs cooking quality as grains are extremely opaque or exhibit abdominal whiteness because of improper development under high temperature caused by loose packing of the starch molecules (Ali et al. at about 30°N in the USA) as in India. Most of these varieties are photosensitive and require a speci®c. shows excessive abdominal whiteness in grains and cooking quality is adversely a€ected. short day length before they ¯ower. 37. Basmati rice in independent India.15% and 0. the plant will add foliage until the critical day length is reached and will only then ¯ower. This results in the plant ¯owering and maturing in the fall of the year regardless of the date of planting. soil fertility. harvesting and storage (Ali et al. In Haryana. The carbohydrates and Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2002. will be ready for harvest in late November. The maturity of such Texas grown Basmati varieties can reach 200 days or more. they are transplanted by hand in water-¯ooded ®elds. although late sowing has been the practice in the past to ensure quality.47±1. Basmati seeds are planted in nursery beds during July. Table 1 presents the data on proximate composition of the same. Basmati rices are susceptible to blast.63% for common rices respectively. 1991.. Azeez & Sha®. time of transplanting. ash content and crude ®bre are at 0. Basmati rice grown in an alkaline and poor soil or under de®cient water supply conditions.. early June sowing is now followed to ward o€ blast disease (Siddiq et al. 1997). has been studied in our laboratory. by shortening day length. bacterial leaf blight. Tall Basmati varieties are photosensitive and need short days for induction of ¯owering. The rice is harvested towards the end of October and in November.2 Basmati rice: a review P. 1991). However. Sowing nursery in the ®rst week of June is ideal in western Uttar Pradesh.g. If planted in March (a normal planting time in Texas). Composition of Basmati rice Inspite of being an important agricultural commodity. This e€ect on ¯owering.. when the seedlings reach about eight inches in height. in August and September. Sensitive varieties ¯ower when the day length is decreasing and reaches a critical stage for induction of the ¯owering. 1995). in the Punjab. 1997). The proximate composition of Basmati-257 variety and an authentic variety from Kurukshetra.52±1. Timing Basmati sowing and transplanting is critical for ensuring high yields and better quality. are very poor grain yielders and can lodge under high doses of nitrogenous fertilizers. the plants become very tall and leafy. Agronomy The traditional Basmati cultivars are tall in stature (about 160 cm or more). raising nursery during the last week of May ensures strong aroma and high yields. medium gel length of 40±60 mm and medium alkali value) in contrast to indica with high amylose and hard gel. volume expansion ratio and the cooking quality aspects of Basmati rice except for a few selected varieties.95 1. 1984. Ramarathnam & P. Bhattacharjee et al.58 Ash (%) 1. 1985).60 5. kernel appearance (opaque as against translucent of indica) and in cooking as well as eating qualities (intermediate amylose content. It is similar to the indica type in morphological features. loss of solids in the cooking gruel and water uptake on cooking (Ramarathnam & Kulkarni. non-glutinous rice with intermediate Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd AC and GT and does not stick on cooking. The amino-acid pro®le of Basmati rice is believed to be similar to other rice varieties. (1995). A comparative study has also been made on the physical characteristics and cooking quality parameters of commercial brands of Basmati rice available in the local markets of Mumbai city (Bhattacharjee & Kulkarni..18.50 5. Bhattacharjee & Kulkarni. change in l/b ratio. unpublished data.. 1998 Protein (%) 9.90% of palmitic. as it cooks ¯aky and remains soft on cooling and has the high volume expansion of high amylose rice (Sood & Siddiq. These are the three major fatty acids for Basmati-257 as against 19.51±6. elongation ratio. 3 Table 1 Proximate composition of Basmati varieties Basmati variety Basmati-257 Authentic Basmati crop. 1±12 . Basmati rice falls in the category of non-waxy.61±7.72±62. such as kernel dimensions in terms of length/ breadth ratio (l/b). 1983). 57. swelling number. The fatty acid composition of the triglycerides of rice lipids has been reported to be 16.37 Source: Ramarathnam & Kulkarni. composition of amylose/amylopectin of its starch. water uptake ratio as g/100 g of rice.50 or < Shape Slender Medium Bold Round l/b ratiob > 3. as no di€erences have been reported as of yet. Table 2 Description of size and shape of Basmati rice Scale 1 2 3 4 Size Extra long Long Medium Short Length.52 Crude ®bre (%) 0.1±2.13 7.0 1. The cooking quality characteristics of some Basmati rice varieties are shown in Table 3. gelatinization and pasting characteristics of the rice ¯our by Brabender Amylograph (N. which is most preferred.R.0 1. Kurukshetra. 37. this has medium gel strength. Table 2 summarizes the morphological features of Basmati rice in general. 2000).50 6.31% of linoleic acid. this is largely dependent on the physico-chemical properties of starch which make up 90% of milled rice. volume expansion.62 Crude lipids (%) 2.1±3. Besides.82 Carbohydrate 77.15 0.35 79. but di€ers in phenol reactions. Kulkarni. 1987). water absorption. oleic and linoleic acids respectively in common rice varieties (Ramarathnam et al..87±26. However. di€erential l/b ratio. b ˆ breadth). 1980).Basmati rice: a review P.38 1. 1989. Quality characteristics of Basmati rice General appearance and cooking quality characteristics Basmati rice possesses characteristics of both indica and japonica types and may be considered as an intermediate group between the two (Ahuja et al.44% of palmitic acid. volume expansion and ®nal starch gelatinization temperature (GT) collectively determine cooking and eating qualities of rice (Sidhu.92% oleic acid and 24. The consumer's concern is to get rice of good cooking and eating qualities. Not much information is available on traits.0 2. 1995).82 and 17. Source: Ahuja et al. loss of solids in cooking water in g/100 g of rice.0 or < a Milled rice has been classi®ed into four categories on the basis of the average length of the kernels. Several component traits like apparent amylose content (AC). International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2002. iso-enzyme patterns (Glaszmann. 48. the following cooking quality characteristics. gel consistency (GC). Ahuja et al. unpublished data) have been investigated in our laboratory. unpublished data. l (mm)a > 7. 1995). lipid contents are fairly comparable. b Grain shape is expressed by l/b ratio of kernels (l ˆ length. swelling index.84±25. . 1985). Basmati type rice has pentagonal or hexagonal cells arranged in a honey-comb fashion in contrast to long rectangular radially arranged cells in other varieties. as tested by sensory pro®ling and complemented by GC-head-space volatiles for analysis of the Basmati ¯avour release during rehydration (Ramesh et al. The long duration varieties (145± 150 days) have a greater l/b ratio after cooking (Singh et al.. Parboiled Basmati rice requires a higher water to rice ratio. This apparently is varietal and environmentally related. 1978).. between Basmati grown in the Punjab and Pakistan. Compared with other cultivars. Water uptake during cooking is related positively with grain elongation. hitherto used for non-scented rice has been extended to Basmati rice. at the time of ripening.73 3. especially temperature.0 Basmati 370 6. Length/breadth ratio after cooking seems to be independent of grain elongation but is closely correlated with volume expansion. 2000). (2) have a strong `popcorn' aroma. Basmati grown in the Punjab elongates more than that grown in Sind in Pakistan because of the higher ambient temperature in Sind (Khush et al. and (6) cook to a dry and ¯u€y texture.82 1. Such changes are not signi®cant in waxy and high amylose starch. This explains the quality di€erences. b l/b ratio Elongation ratio Water uptake (g/100 g) Volume expansion ratio Basmati 257 ± ± ± 2. Good quality Basmati rice from India and Pakistan also have distinctive starch properties such as a minimum apparent AC of 21%.49 in other varieties (Mehrotra et al. Length-wise expansion (grain elongation) upon cooking without increase in girth is a very desirable trait of Basmati rice.0 in Basmati and as low as 1. (4) are often milled to a low degree and thus show more bran streaks. Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2002.8 3. 37. low GT and a medium to hard gel consistency. 1±12 .08 1. Anatomical features such as endosperm cells a€ect grain elongation. 1979). The ambient temperature of 25/21 °C (day/night) at ripening has a favourable e€ect on grain elongation. It is 5.65 4.70 338 3. takes longer to cook and elongates a little more than regular Basmati rice during cooking but the characteristic chalkiness and aroma of Basmati rice are eliminated in the parboiling process.74 1. A high l/b ratio implies least breadth-wise swelling on cooking. Bhattacharjee et al. grain weight and l/b ratio before cooking (Sood. which decreases with increase in temperature (Ahuja et al. boiling with an optimum amount of water and spreading for cooling.. l Breadth (mm).0 298.84 1. (1995). Basmati rice starch exhibits an intermediate GT (70±74 °C) and medium gel strength which is the most preferred as it cooks ¯aky and remains soft on cooking.89 228 3. 1988). Ramarathnam & Kulkarni (1984. and is known as Sella Basmati rice in India and the Middle East and Cook Basmati in the UK. but are more prominent in Basmati type rices. Traditionally Basmati rice demands a special cooking method of pre-soaking.76 3. which in turn is in¯uenced by environmental factors. 1995). 1980). Basmati rice from India and Pakistan has a higher percentage of white centred and white belly grains than American long grain rice. Basmati rice from India and Pakistan show in general that the grains: (1) elongate by more than 75% during cooking. Some Basmati rice is parboiled.5.81 Source: Ahuja et al.88 221 3. (3) are somewhat chalky (white centre) and generally have a low transparency. Work has been done on the e€ect of processing on the cooking quality of Basmati QCR.80 Pusa Basmati-1 6.4 Basmati rice: a review P. especially in elongation. Decrease in amylose as a result of increased temperature a€ects grain appearance as it results in decreased translucency of the grain..94 1. The technique to develop quick cooking rice (QCR).92 Haryana Basmati-1 6. 1973). yielding whole grains with a length to width ratio > 3. Basmati with intermediate AC (20±25%) has as high a volume expansion as that of high amylose rice (Sood & Siddiq. Table 3 Cooking quality characteristics of Basmati rice varieties Quality trait Length (mm). Amylose content increases with decrease in climatic temperature.76 1. (5) vary considerably in colour and chalkiness from lot to lot. Aroma is caused by certain chemicals in the endosperm. The climate and/or soil of the Punjab of Pakistan. fourteen acids.. in storage.51) 268 (2. Effect of ageing on Basmati rice Chemical and bio-chemical processes govern the changes of rice on ageing. Gas chromatographic analysis of Basmati rice volatiles Table 4 Volatile compounds (ppb) detected in commercial a Basmati rice and Italian line B5-3 Compound Aldehydes Alcohols Hydrocarbons Ketones Heterocyclic compounds Phenols Disulphides Terpenes Basmati 5952 (47. especially the ¯avour pro®le of aromatic rices such as Basmati. eating and nutritional characteristics. Suvarnalatha et al. 1987. In addition to 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline. the loss of solids ranged between 82 and 95% with respect to the values at the beginning of storage (taken as 100%) and 40±70% over a Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2002. 1983).. Aroma is lower in early transplanted (1 June) crop (Ali et al.04± 0. Yajima et al. Tava & Bocchi. A recent study compared a commercial Basmati and Italian line B5-3 for the aroma of cooked rice and is summarized in Table 4... 1991. It is not de®nitely known in which part of the grain the scent is concentrated.. Ramarathnam et al. The characteristic sweet aroma of Basmati rice is released when the grain is cooked and is said to resemble the aroma of the ¯owers of Madhuca longifolia.53) 485 (3.. estimation of acetaldehyde.08) a Values within parenthesis indicate the relative abundance in percentage. cooking and eating (Je€erson. 1994).77) 257 (1. and thus ultimately in¯uence its commercial value. 1987).. Bhattacharjee et al. 1982).44) 1869 (14. 1±12 .84) 534 (4.Basmati rice: a review P. Tanchotikul & Hsich. Hussain et al. 1978. 1991. Characterization of ¯avour produced in plant cell cultures of Basmati (Oryza sativa Linn) have also been reported (Mohanty et al. There is also a gradual increase in l/b ratio of the cooked rice grains during ageing. determination of alkaline oxidation value (AOV). Aroma is fast developed when Basmati is grown in areas where the temperature is cooler at maturity. Attempts are also being made in our laboratory to extract Basmati volatiles using the supercritical ¯uid extraction technique with carbon dioxide.. The yield of total volatile ¯avour components in the Likens±Nickerson extract of Basmati rice has been reported to be 28±30 ppm (Ramarathnam. 1972). The active principle of the aroma is 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline which is present in all rices at the level of 0. 37. there are about 100 volatile compounds responsible for Basmati ¯avour. 1990.61) 382 (2. propionaldehyde and acetaldehyde as compared with common rice volatiles.63) 257 (2. the maximum being in the case of Basmati rice. ¯avour extraction by the Likens± Nickerson method and characterization of the ¯avour impact compounds by GC and TLC methods have been reported (Tsugita et al.96) 66 (0. Basmati is not aromatic. Buttery et al. This component is also present even in the rice plant.. 1999). In almost all rice varieties. 1978. 1983. sixteen aldehydes.06 ppm but is present in signi®cantly higher (ten times) concentration in aromatic cultivars. the loss of water solubles decreased as the ageing period increased.99) 4045 (25. Changes in cooking quality characteristics Fine varieties such as Basmati take a relatively longer time to cook than other common rice varieties. (Hussain et al. etc. Standard cultivars grown in Sind (Pakistan) mature without aroma (Juliano. 1991).. thirteen alcohols. 1983. 1988. 1986.. which include thirteen hydrocarbons. When grown outside the Punjab region in Pakistan. eight esters. these in turn modify its cooking. fourteen ketones.86) 1220 (7. Aroma is the result of genetic factors and environment. 5 Aroma characteristics of Basmati rice Basmati emits speci®c aroma in the ®eld at harvesting. the ratio of increase in length to increase in breadth (Dl/Db) of the cooked grains increased in the range of 10±20%. 1985).25) 79 (0. during milling. Over a period of 120 days. 1982. ®ve phenols.05) Italian B5-3 3655 (28. showed it to be rich in hexanol.36) 234 (1. Punjab and western UP of India are most suitable for expression of aroma and other quality traits. Steam distillation studies.33) 2003 (15. Over a period of 4 months. The time taken for all the rice varieties to cook increases gradually during the storage period. Haryana. Lin et al.89) 548 (4. especially Basmati (Buttery et al. R. An increased uptake of water by the rice grains has also been reported on ageing. Kulkarni. Basmati is grown annually in the Punjab province of Pakistan. unpublished data). Europe and Arabian countries (Siddiq et al. Thailand. Changes in aroma pro®le The aroma of Basmati rice has been correlated to AOV which is de®ned as the number of parts by weight of oxygen required to oxidise 105 parts of the sample under standard conditions. This trial included a total of thirty cultivars including Basmati from India and Pakistan (Singh & Singh. ®ne grained aromatic rices are concentrated in India and Pakistan (Basmati rices). Tulsi Manjari in Bihar.. 37. whereas it is insigni®cant for other common rice varieties (Ramarathnam & Kulkarni.M. In the choicest preparations like `Biryani' and `Pulao' that are relished almost universally. Alcohols and carbonyl compounds make a signi®cant contribution to this value (Kent-Jones & Amos. Kulkarni. N. Vaingankar & P. Vaingankar & P. In this respect. Because of this feature. Kamod and Ambemohar in Maharashtra. The details of Basmati growing districts in India and Pakistan and the di€erent varieties grown are shown in Tables 5 and 6. Saudi Arabia. 1±12 . Kaminibhog and Radhunipagal in West Bengal. Sakkarchini. period of 8 months. has labelling regulations that permits Basmati rice only from India and Pakistan to be marketed as Basmati rice. 1993) such as extra long super®ne grains.. Basmati rice from India and Pakistan are preferred by the consumers in USA. 1970). systematic breeding has resulted in the release of the scented cultivars ± Della. Similarly. the world's largest importer of Basmati rice. This decline indicates the formation of ¯avour compounds of a reducing nature in old rice (N. This code allows the term Basmati rice to be applied to only the long grain aromatic rice grown in India and Pakistan. Basmati rice records the highest water uptake values of 354±356 g/100 g of rice as against 217±352 g/100 g for other rice varieties. However.M. Thailand (Jasmine rices) and in Mayanmar (Sadri rices). The Grain and Feed Trade Association in the UK (the largest Basmati rice market in Europe and largest importer of Basmati rice in the world) in co-operation with the UK Local Authorities Co-ordinating Body on Trading Standards (LACOTS). Govindbhog. 1984. It is an indicator of the reducing ¯avour volatiles of rice. In the USA. The traditional cultivar Khao Dwak Mah and its derivatives from Thailand are very popular with American and European consumers. Among these. western Uttar Pradesh and Punjab state in India. Motachinaeum and Adamchini in the Uttar Pradesh state of India. In fact. Bhattacharjee et al. Zeerasal and Muskan in Gujarat and Dubraj and Badshahbhog in the Madhya Pradesh (Pathak. 1997). Badshah Pasand. Badshahbhog. Haryana. Kala Namak. major breeding centres of aromatic rices are in Pakistan. Vishnu Parag. Distribution of Basmati and its different varieties Distributed all over the rice growing world. The quality aromatic rices have recently gained international status with the ®rst international ®ne grained `Aromatic Rice Observational Nursery Trial' organized by IRRI involving twenty-six locations. T-812 and Badshah bhog in Orissa. Gopalbhog.R. Apart from India. irrespective of the variations of the size of the kernels. Every scented rice cannot be accepted as Basmati because of its special features (Mani et al. Jasmine 85 and Texas. The area Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2002. Pearson. Afganistan. Storage studies on common and Basmati rice varieties have revealed a decrease in AOV from fourteen for freshly harvested rice to eight after 6 months of storage on an average. has established a code of practice for rice. USA.6 Basmati rice: a review P. The scent or natural fragrance in the kernel is the much valued quality factor. unpublished data). Iran and China.. the scented varieties are given a premium price. Other scented varieties besides Basmati cultivated in India are Tilak Chandan. Basmati rices are the most preferred and so command a very high premium price in both international and domestic markets. Basmati produced in Haryana is of super®ne quality and ful®ls all the needs of the export quality. Iran. Della-X2. Lalmati. Bahantapul. 1947. length-wise elongation with least breadth-wise swelling on cooking etc. 1991). which is used by companies operating in that market. Moreover there is an appreciable decrease in a-amylase enzyme activity during storage for Basmati and some ®ne varieties. as elaborated before. 1997). 370 AS . Gurdaspur. Panipat. Dehradun. Sialkot. Jind. Basmati 370 was selected from these land races for cultivation in Punjab in 1933. under Basmati rice ranged from 30±40% of total rice area in Haryana.1013 Basmati . Swaminathan. Sahiwal and Bhawal Nagar Nasirabad 7 Pakistan Source: Anonymous (1962). Rampur. No high yielding variety is available which matches Basmati 370 and Taraori Basmati in cooking and eating qualities. Dilibhit. Combining all the key quality features of Basmati rices. Kheri. were also developed in the Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. 1±12 . The world's ®rst high yielding semi-dwarf Basmati variety Pusa Basmati 1 is a derivative of the cross Pusa 150/Karnal Local. 1989). Table 5 Basmati growing districts in India and Pakistan Country India State East Punjab Uttar Pradesh Haryana Bihar West Punjab Baluchistan District Amritsar. Sustained and systematic research e€orts for over two decades has resulted in the development of Pusa Basmati 1 and Kasturi. Muzaffarnagar. Haridwar. IET 10650. Dr E.A.Basmati rice: a review P. Saharanpur. (1995). whereas it was 3±4% and 5% of total rice area in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab respectively (Jasol. At Kala Shah Kaku. Sheikhupura. Kasturi matures in 125 days and on an average yields 4000 kg ha±1 ± a tonne (1000 kg) more than the traditional Basmati rices. The evaluation of the material developed at various centres was initiated in 1970s. 1997). Ambala. through hybridization. These varieties were of tall stature with weak stems. T-23. Begumi. a collection of Basmati land rices with short bold. (1995). Kapurthala. and low yields but were famous for aroma and speci®c cooking qualities and taste. Other dwarf Basmati rice cultures of promise that are in the advanced stages of testing are IET 10367. in the late 1960s under the inspiration of Dr M. short slender. Natural variability available for various quality traits was identi®ed and the optimum limits were ®xed for the selection criteria. But it was not possible to make signi®cant improvements because of the complicated nature of the quality traits and the poor combining ability of the Basmati strains. Pauri. Pantnagar and IARI. Ahuja et al. Moradabad. Siddiq initiated a Basmati improvement programme at IARI.S. awned or non-awned type and red or golden husked was made. Pusa Basmati 1 matures in 135 days and yields 4500 kg ha±1 ± 1000±1500 kg more than the traditional Basmati rices.. A number of other varieties like Basmati 217. 37. Lahore. IET 11341 and IET 12019 (Siddiq et al. Kapurthala. Ahuja et al. Table 6 States and type of Basmati rice grown State Punjab Uttar Pradesh Jammu & Kashmir Assam West-Bengal Type of Basmati Basmati 370 and 217 Basmati T . The research work on this aspect was initiated under All-India co-ordinated Rice Improvement Programme. N-10B. Shahjahanpur. The main active centres for Basmati improvement have been Kaul. e€orts were concentrated. Bhattacharjee et al. New Delhi. to develop Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd high yielding aromatic varieties by reducing plant height and retaining the quality traits of traditional Basmati. IET 11348. Mushkan. N-12 etc. T-3 (Dehradun Basmati). long bold and long slender grain types. non-responsive to higher doses of fertilizer. Patiala. Hansraj. Bijinor. medium slender. Kasur.3 and N . Kasturi is a derivative of the cross Basmati 370/CRR 88-17-1-5. Faridkot. The material was International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2002. Ludhiana. Trials on breeding of Basmati The varietal improvement of Basmati rice was initiated in 1920s at Kala Shah Kaku in erstwhile Punjab (now in Pakistan) and Nagina in Uttar Pradesh. Earlier e€orts were made to develop varieties through pure line selection from available agro-commercial group. With the introduction of the dwar®ng gene in 1964. Kurukshetra. Tehri and Basti Karnal. Ropar and Pathankot Bareilly. Kaithal. Jallandhar. Sonipat and Sirsa East and West Champaran Gujaranwala. New Delhi. Nainital.33 Source: Anonymous (1962).3 Bankura . 1±12 Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd . The Agmark grade designations and de®nitions of quality of Basmati rice (for export only) are given in Table 7. The bulk of the export is directed Variety Raw Parboiled Other rices including red grains 10 15 20 Damaged. It conforms to all the special parameters like aroma. Bhattacharjee et al. International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2002. Organized breeding under the Directorate of Rice Research has produced the medium to high yielding semi-dwarf Basmati cultivars as Pusa Basmati 1. which promises to push up the production of the foreign exchange earning premium of rice varieties substantially. Even the Pusa Basmati 1 which was introduced by the IARI in the 1980s as a high yielding variety is now being positively shunned by the Basmati trade because it lacks the aroma present in the traditional grain and confuses the buyers.8 Basmati rice: a review P. and have a cooked texture somewhat di€erent to that of the traditional good quality Basmati rice (Anonymous. Type-3 (Dehradun Basmati).. as there is a substantial price di€erential between these two categories arising out of di€erent genetic characteristics. Kasturi and Haryana Basmati and a number of entries are at the Advanced Varietal Trial Stage (AVT ± Basmati) (Anonymous. Basmati rice is susceptible to a number of biotic and abiotic stresses resulting in an average yield of less than one tonne per hectare. e€orts to improve the versatility or productivity of Basmati rice lines have had only limited success. An additional advantage of the new classi®cation would be to harmonize India's standards with that of other producing countries. Basmati hybrids lacking the traditional ¯avour are likely to fail in the market. Basmati 217. 1997). 1999). pre-cooking length±width norms and post-cooking elongation and has marked a de®nite improvement over high yielding varieties developed earlier (Anonymous. only a few of the cultivars. One such e€ort has been to breed rice lines that can be cultivated in the Western hemisphere and produce grains with some of the desired Basmati grain characteristics. Recently. Trade scenario Marketing and export Nearly two-thirds of the Basmati rice produced in India is exported. These products are somewhat less aromatic than premium Basmati rice from India and Pakistan. Very recently. These include the Della rice and the widely distributed `Texmati' brand of rice. 37. they typically elongate only 50% on cooking (which is about the same extent as regular long grain rice). Kasturi and Pusa Basmati 1 meet the stringent quality control requirements for export (Siddiq et al. On the world scale. Moreover. Basmati ± 370 (Punjab Basmati). discoloured and chalky grains 1 2 3 Moisture (%) 14 14 14 Source: Mahindru (1995). 1996).5 1 2 Brokens and fragments 5. 1999). The possible in¯uence of pedoclimatic characteristics on sensory properties related to aroma composition need to be determined in developing new cultivars and de®ning new agronomic techniques.0 10 10 higher yield than the best yielding Basmati rice. Although a large gene pool of Basmati quality rice is available. This Basmati hybrid variety would give 20±25% Table 7 Agmark grade designation of Basmati rice Grade designation Special A B Foreign matter 0. the Union Government is planning to formally distinguish between the traditional Basmati varieties and the hybrids released by agricultural research bodies under the Seed Act. the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI) has successfully developed the country's ®rst hybrid Basmati rice. 1980). Karnal Local (Travadi Basmati). non-stickiness. Location speci®c improved Basmati quality rices would go a long way to increase the production and hence the export earnings of the producing countries. developed at various centres under the High yielding Export Quality Basmati Trial (HYEQBT) in 1979 in Basmati growing states (Anonymous. These e€orts have yielded a number of aromatic rice types often referred to generically as `Basmati type rice'. in a move to make the Basmati business more transparent. and have uniform size. Austin. there was no provision for aromatic long grains like Sharbati to exist independently of the other non-Basmati rices (Srinivas. Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2002. B and Special.79 236. A small percentage is exported to the European countries and the North American sub-continent. For export purpose. In 1997 alone. Bhattacharjee et al.73 415. (e) shall be free from musty obnoxious odour and shall carry no signs of mould or contain webs and dead or live weevils. value (in millions of US$) 1102. As per Agmark. may now be classi®ed under a new category `Aromatic rice'. particularly Amritsar. export to the Middle East.Basmati rice: a review P. India's share of the export of Basmati rice was negligible. the British Government is now designing its own de®nitions of Basmati and the varieties that constitute its family tree.31 523. Earlier. Haryana Basmati-1 and Mahi Sugandha. 1999).58 538. The patent scenario Recently. (c) shall not have been arti®cially coloured and shall be free from polishing agents. 1±12 .0 and above and (g) shall be in sound merchantable condition. Kasturi (IET-8580). these are supposedly similar to or even superior to traditional Basmati and registered under the trademarks `Texmati'. 1993). 1999). one aspect of the invention relates to Table 8 Export statistics of Basmati and non-Basmati rice varieties between 1995 and 1998 Basmati varieties Year 1995±1996 1996±1997 1997±1998 Quantity (´10 kg) Approx. The category of the premium traditionally grown varieties would now include: Basmati 370. the grade designation used for Basmati are ± grain length of 6 mm and above and length to breadth ratio of 3 and above. slender. `Kasmati' and `Jasmati'.0 mm and above and l/b ratio of 3.16 6 Non-Basmati varieties Quantity (´106 kg) 4540. India exported about 4. 9 towards the Middle-East region. As several crosses are being imported by UK millers.16 581. the rice millers of Punjab. of white. (b) shall possess in a marked degree the natural fragrance characteristic of Basmati rice both in the raw and in the cooked state. In 1997. 37. All the varieties similar in appearance and cooking quality to real Basmati. Basmati 386. (f) shall have length 6. European imports of Basmati-like rices is expected to reach 70 000 ´ 103 kg per year in the near future.80 Approx. All these eleven varieties are de®ned as Basmati under the Seed Act. red grains shall not exceed 2%. The rice (a) shall be the dried matured kernels of Oryza sativa. Until recently. such as `Sharbati'. Type-3. Punjab Basmati-1 (Bauni Basmati). general characteristics of Basmati rice for export include the following: (1) The grains must be long. 1997). Speci®cally. Texas-based Rice-Tec-Inc has been granted a patent by the US government for new hybrid strains from Basmati parents. From 1980 onwards. The crosses released by the agricultural universities are to be classi®ed as `Indian Basmati' which will include Pusa Basmati-1 (IET 10364). value (in millions of US$) 373. Basmati 217 and Ranbir Basmati IET (11348). shape and colour. Taraori Basmati (HBC-19). as a new European law allow imports at lower tax rates (Tava & Bocchi. India had no system of classifying the di€erent varieties of Basmati being grown in the country and the export inspection agency only di€erentiated Basmati under the Grades A. Until 1980. This accounts for 64% of the foreign exchange earned by the country through the export of agricultural commodities excluding plantation crops and marine products (Siddiq et al. Very recently the export ®gure has reached US$ 401 million (1999±2000).74 349.7 ´ 108 kg of Basmati rice earning foreign exchange worth around US$ 332 million. greyish or creamy white colour and translucent.04 1721. (d) may contain up to 3% of grains with an appreciable amount of bran thereon..70 1989. took a lead to introduce Basmati rice in the export markets (Manjeshwar. Table 8 gives export statistics of Basmati and non-Basmati rices of India. Africa and Russia has earned annually over US$ 116 million in foreign exchange.21 435.94 Source: Anonymous (1998). as highlighted before. apparent water uptake and loss of solids in the cooking gruel for pure Basmati370. Improved Sabarmati.09 to 4. Physical methods such as image analysis and chemical analysis of aromatic compounds from rice cooking water are known to be useful for authentication of Basmati rice. Very recently. which has been available in the international market since 1999 at competitive prices (Manjeshwar. which are frequently used for adulteration. DNA tests or ®ngerprinting is of immense value. Further. 37. 1999). Bligh (2000) has used ¯uorescent simple sequence length polymorphisms between Basmati rice cultivars and likely adulterants with moderate success. among which is that of reduced starch content. The method gave some variations because of factors such as age of the grain and the degree of milling. Pusa-169. differential l/b ratio was found to be a reliable indicator of adulteration of Basmati rice with Improved Sabarmati. 1986). quanti®cation of the adulterant was not realistic. Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2002. viz. and produce rice grains having characteristics similar or superior to those of good quality Basmati rice (Sarreal et al. pure adulterant and their admixtures did not seem to hold any promise as indicators of adulteration as no consistent behaviour was observed for these parameters. most of the rice growers had little scienti®c material to back their claims. 1±12 . Methods that can distinguish genuine Indian/Pakistani cultivars from the US counterparts are therefore desirable. Use of short chain repeat polymorphisms utilizing white milled or brown rice samples have been shown to distinguish very closely related US longgrain cultivars (Bligh et al. or a mixture of both.92 ‹ 0. This technique can determine whether the Basmati variety is pure. Similarly.09 was found to be indicative of pure Basmati-370 (Vaingankar & Kulkarni. substantially photoperiod insensitive and high yielding. The US patent number 5663484 granted on 2 September 1997. Kali-much. A minimum value of l/b ratio of 3. Singh. 1997).09 ‹ 0. PR-106. the amount of DNA extractable needs to be considered. Re®ning of the analytical protocol developed in this study could yield greater accuracy in detecting adulteration by this method. the genetic pro®le of Basmati rice originating from di€erent countries have been studied. scientists at the Centre for DNA ®ngerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD). novel rice lines whose plants are semi-dwarf in stature. Bhattacharjee et al. Kalimuch.. Saket-4 and Parimal is possible (Vaingankar & Kulkarni.. These developments led to a controversy. concerning which rice can be labelled `Basmati'. 2000). is quite exhaustive. It can also detect adulteration of pure Basmati rice at levels as low as 1% (Anonymous. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is very useful for analytical purposes. techniques such as short chain repeat polymorphisms that have been studied for mapping the rice genome (Chen et al. Using as many as forty-three DNA markers. However. While the method could detect the adulterants qualitatively. This could cut down on breakage of grains and also impart better cooking quality. PR-106. 1994) could be helpful in detecting such fraudulent practices. but have a large uncertainty because of their complexity and timeconsuming nature (Bligh.. `Texmati' has failed to display the necessary genetic structure as revealed by the DNA test conducted by Britain (Srinivas. Adulteration of Basmati Adulteration of the highly priced. 1998. Work in this area using sensitive analytical techniques is seriously warranted. Lakra. 1998). to Rice-Tec on `Basmati rice lines and grains'.. it can be grown in American regions even with inadequate light (Shastri & Mukherjee. 1999). and would need to be developed. 1997) and for identi®cation of rice accessions (Yang et al. Lakra and Parimal. Of these adulterants. which is not as strong as Basmati. Improved Sabarmati and Kalimuch possess mild scent. The other cooking quality parameters. These tests can also authenticate superior quality Basmati varieties such as `Kernal'. In a very interesting report. 1989). among several interested groups. covering both product and process. and could detect adulteration in Basmati rice. 1999). Signi®cantly. ¯avourful Basmati rice with such cheaper varieties like Pusa-169. Rice-Tec makes a total of twenty claims. Besides. 2001).10 Basmati rice: a review P. evolved. Among various cooking quality parameters studied. In the light of these facts. and certify it for export as well as for domestic consumption. Hyderabad have developed a DNA marker technology that would authenticate Basmati rice.. John Wiley & Sons. (1973). Edwards. D. B. Bhattacharjee.K.). Calcutta. Philippines: IRRI. Y. Anonymous. Dalen & H. Sujata. (1980).Basmati rice: a review P. 28.J. Karim.. Sharma. Ramarathnam. Agric. Rice Production in Uttar Pradesh. Identi®cation and quanti®cation of the popcorn like aroma in Louisiana aromatic Della rice (Oryza sativa).K. Inc.. 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