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 Botany
Stems are erect,
cylindrical, hollow, jointed and striate, from 1 to 1.5 meters.
Leaves are flat, with long close sheaths, prominent ligule. Leaf blade is linear,
15-30 cm long, up to 2 cm wide, with rough, serrulate and prickled
edges. Panicles are 20-30 cm long, at first erect, drooping and nodding as
the grains ripen. Spikelets are laxly disposed, stalked,
one-flowered, 7-9 mm long, awned or awnless. Fruit (grain) is enclosed in, but not adhering to, persistent
pales, oblong, ovoid, or oblong-ovoid, smooth and compressed.
Distribution
Extensively cultivated
in the Philippines.
Prehistoric introduction.
Constituents
and characteristics
- The rice bran contains
20 percent oil and a higher percentage of protein than the polished
variety.
- Of the 7 percent proteins in rice, 0.14 is a globulin, 0.04 an
albumin, and the remainder, a protein (oryzagenin) similar to
the glutenin of wheat. soluble in dilute alkali.
Properties
Malted rice is peptic, carminative and tonic.
Parts
used and preparation
Grains, polishings,
roots and rhizomes.
Uses
Nutrition
- Rice is a staple article
of diet, and polished in preparation for eating.
-
Polished rice is deficient
in vitamin B and has been cause of beriberi.
- From the polishings is prepared an extract called tiki-tiki, a wonderful
source of vitamin B, both a preventive and cure for infantile beriberi.
- Rice bran is a healthy additive toi the making of muffins, cakes, cookies,
providing both fiber and nutritive value.
Others
Rice wine, tapoi, is prepared from rice.
Rice oil and furfural is obtained from crude rice bran.
Rice hulls are made into cellulose products, like rayon.
Rice mill fuel by-product of cabronaceous ash is a source of sodium
silicate, soap, pigments, carbon.
Rice straw can also be a source of paper.
Bundled rice straw used in the making of brooms.
Ashes of hulls used for cleaning of discolored teeth.
Folkloric
Decoctiion of roots and
rhizomes for anuria.
Lye from burned culms is considered abortive.
Decoction and poultices of grains are emollient.
Poultice of soft rice, applied to back and chest for coughgs and bronchitis.
Rice water used as an enema.
Studies
• Antianaphylactic: The evaluation of antianaphylactic effect of Oryza sativa L. in rats: Study showed the extract
of OS possess antianaphylactic activity by inhibition of release of
mast cells in vivo and in vitro.
• Diabets: An investigation of indigenous
plants used as traditional phytotherapies for the control and treatment
of diabetes. There is a plentitude of folkloric hypoglycemic plants;
Oryza sativa is one of them. In the investigation, the "Antidiabetic
Flour" is obtained from 6 plants in equal amounts of 2 Kg from
each plant: the dried underground part of Daucus carrota and the seeds
of Oryza sativa, Cicer arietinum, Hordeum vulgare, Triticum aestivum
and Zea mays.In a dietary regimen for diabetes, bread from this mix
is eaten every morning with fresh cow's butter for 2 months.
• Asthma: Effect of Oryza
sativa extract on the progression of airway inflammation and remodeling
in an experimental animal model of asthma: Ethanolic extract
of black rice may play a role in attenuating the progression of airway
inflammation and suggests a potential for OS in the asthma prevention
and treatment.
Availability
Commercial cultivation. |
