Paul Bibby
A new research project lead by Southern Cross University is exploring the potential for Australian sub-tropical regions such as the North Coast to become production hubs for high-quality black rice.
Hailed as a ‘superfood’ that shares many of the nutritional compounds as blackberries and acai, black rice is well-suited to the region’s higher rain fail and UV levels.
Southern Cross Plant Science Associate Professor Tobias Kretzschmar is leading the six-person research team to determine drivers of nutritional quality in the plant.
‘The demand for functional foods with health benefits, including black rice, is increasing both domestically and internationally,’ Professor Kretzschmar said.‘While high UV levels in Australia are often viewed as a negative climactic factor, this radiation may actually have an advantage in boosting the accumulation of healthy compounds in optimised black rice, making Australia – and specifically the NSW Northern Rivers – well placed to produce the highest quality black rice.’
Black rice gets its dark colour from a range of naturally occurring compounds called ‘anthocyanins’ which are known to be beneficial agents in reducing inflammation, and has major antioxidant properties.
Importantly they also have the potential to reduce the GI (glycaemic index) of rice.
Prior to joining SCU two years ago Professor Kretzschmar worked at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines, where the International Rice Genebank (IRG) houses more than 100,000 types of rice.This black rice project involves identifying 300 black rice lines from that collection, which originate from 19 countries across Asia and Africa.‘We had screened the vast IRRI genebank for purple and black rice accessions and these were imported into Australia in January last year,’ Professor Kretzschmar said.
‘They then had to pass strict biosecurity measures, where they were grown for one full generation, from seed to seed, and tested for possible contamination under quarantine.
‘So far 256 lines have been released.’It is the first time these black rice lines will be grown in Australia, with the backing of the Australian Research Council Linkage program.
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