I bought a bag of brown Basmati rice a few days ago. When I opened it, I found that about a quarter of the grains were green/greenish. Not clumped together like mold, just green grains. Is it safe to eat? Also, while we're on the subject ... Anyone know which variety of rice has the least arsenic? And which has the lowest glycemic index? Do you have any other info about rice you'd like to share? Thank you! .
Check the expiry date, take it back to the store. Do not consume it. It is a bag of rice, not worth taking risk of your health.
@Amica I always had great experience with the quality of grains bought in US. The grains were, what we use for Indian cooking. The stuff that gets shipped to US is of excellent (export quality as they say it) quality. I am wondering where you got that kind of rice? Do not eat it. I am not sure about which rice has lowest arsenic level. The long grain rice is usually the lower glycemic kinds. The shorter the grain of rice, higher the starch level. So, if you boil basmati rice (long grained) the water stays clearer than if you had boiled short grained rice. Jasmine rice is extremely starchy. I would suggest stick with Basmati for lower glycemic index. There is lot of talk about hand pounded rice. Not sure what it is, but saw a lot talk about it on IL itself. May be a fellow IL, can fill in.
When in doubt don’t use it. Handpounded rice is healthier than White rice and brown rice as most of the nutrients are retained and has low GI. I saw few brands in Amazon but some of the reviews say that it’s fake and just brown rice. It’s easier to get hand pounded rice in India.
Green colour, when the rice is clearly not sticking together with fungus, is due to grains that are recently harvested, and came from lower down in the rice-stalk. [ I wished you had included a photo of the brown, and green types of grains to see how green that green is] If you cannot return it, and feel squeamish about it, it is best to toss. However, if you are curious, wash it (as if you would normally do), and let it soak for 1/2 hour in clean water, and cook that with 1 rice to 1.5 water ratio. And taste test. The rice to water ratio is to get to separate grains of cooked rice. Any fungus eaten rice would not give you a nice ellipsoidal rice grain, in its fully cooked form. Basmati rice is slightly lower glycemic index than other shorter grain rices. However, if there is someone who needs to count carbo-input, it is best to cut down on portions, or remove that entirely from the diet. Arsenic: Brown rices have more than non-brown varieties. Added later: Was curious to know how arsenic is measured... Found an interesting article, with an embedded video of the procedure. Very new in scientific journal articles !! Determination of Inorganic Arsenic in a Wide Range of Food Matrices using Hydride Generation - Atomic Absorption Spectrometry. It was funny to see that the Journal of Visualized Experiments analysing Rice, Seaweed, and Shrimp -- components of Sushi !!
while on Navigation, found this also: Whole genome sequencing and analysis of Swarna, a widely cultivated indica rice variety with low glycemic index Have not yet studied in detail. However, the last line of the abstract, "The whole genome analysis of Swarna helped to understand the genetic basis of GI in rice, which is a complex trait involving multiple factors." made me go.. May come back after reading the full paper.
Weirdddd..... After I put in the above responses, my IL portal gave me this message on the side bar: Is anyone else getting this sucrose intolerance quiz invitation ?
If its the brown rice.. i think its ok because the husk has clorophyll in it so its just cropping up as green. Not sure about green grains in white rice thou.. may be mould?
Thanks for responding, @Angela123. If I had bought it myself, I would've taken it back. But I had asked a friend to buy it for me on her way over. And I can't return it without her credit card. Oh well. .
@hermitcrab, thanks for responding and for the glycemic index related info! We'll stick with Basmati. I dislike the smell of Jasmine rice anyway. .