What are the Differences Between White, Parboiled and Whole Rice?

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What are the differences between white, parboiled and whole rice?
Do you just like the pretty white rice? So it’s time to get to know the parboiled and integral types, which are more beneficial to the body

Who resists a rice just off the stove, well-seasoned and smoking? As common as rice is a simple everyday dish, it is still difficult not to put a few spoonfuls of that food on the plate.

Rice is practically sacred at the tables of Nigerian families, and a meal in which it is not present seems incomplete. As you might imagine, white rice is the most common variety, but it is not the only one.

In fact, you may have heard that white rice does not offer as many health benefits as other types of grain, and that’s not a lie.

If you can not resist good rice in the dish, it is important to know the differences between the main types to make the best decision according to what you are looking for in your food. Let’s check it out.

White rice
Whitish, tasty, soft and quick to cook, white rice is the true king among the varieties of this grain, which still has a longer life span than the other types.

Also known as polished rice, this variety goes through an extensive process of processing in which the outer layers of the whole grain, known as pericarp, tegument, aleurone layer and embryo, are removed.

The purpose of this polishing is precisely to improve the flavor, appearance and texture of the grain, making it more delicate and more pleasant to the palate of Nigerians, in order to meet the market demand.

The problem is that white rice, while delicious, is very rich in carbohydrates and low in nutrients like vitamins and minerals, as they are lost during the polishing process. As a result, it offers many calories and few nutritional properties.

For you to have an idea, 100 grams of cooked white rice offer 130 calories, but provide only 1.2 mg of iron (8% of daily necessities) and few vitamins, although it provides 1.5 mg of vitamin B3 (9.2%), 0.2 mg of vitamin B1 (14.8%) and less than 0.1 mg of vitamin B11 (14.5%).

Two highlights of white rice go to selenium and manganese: 100 grams provide 0.1 mg of selenium (25% of daily requirements) and 0.5 of manganese (23.6%).

Parboiled rice is a precooked rice – inclusive, the word “parboiled” comes from the English word “partial boiled”, which means “partially boiled”. This means that before polishing, the beans are boiled so that some of the nutrients in the shell (which would be lost) are transferred to the inner layer.

In this way, parboiled rice grains have a more yellowish coloration, and they are considered a healthier alternative to white rice, which ends up losing all these nutrients.

During parboiling, the grains go through three stages. The first one is the waterlogging, when the grain, still with the bark, is dipped in hot water for a few hours. This stage allows a part of the vitamins and minerals of the bark to be absorbed by the inner part of the grain.

The second step is gelatinization, when the still moist rice is placed in an environment with high pressure and steam. In this process, the vitamins and minerals are fixed in the grains. Then the rice undergoes a drying step so that it is subsequently peeled and polished in the same way as with white rice.

For you to compare, 100 grams of this type of rice offer 123 calories, which is not much different from white rice. However, in terms of nutrition, parboiled rice is much more interesting, because it offers 0.2 mg of vitamin B1 (19.3% of daily necessities) and 0.1 mg of vitamin B11 (20.3%) – rice White provides some of these vitamins as well, but the amounts represent less than 15% of the daily requirement.

Regarding vitamin B3, parboiled rice offers 2.3 mg, corresponding to 14.4% of daily requirements, while white provides only 1.5 mg (9.2%). It is also worth mentioning the vitamin B6 content of 0.2 mg, which corresponds to 11.1% of the needs.

The iron content, in turn, is 1.8 mg, equivalent to 12.1% of daily needs. The amount of selenium supplied by parboiled rice is even higher than in white rice (31% of requirements), but manganese has a small drop: 100 grams offer 0.4 mg of this mineral (17.7%).

Parboiled rice is an intermediate type between white rice and brown rice and can be a good choice for those who do not get used to the integral. Its cooking requires a little more water, but it takes less oil and takes a few minutes less.

As the rice variety is richer in nutrients and offers more benefits to the body, brown rice is the darling of nutrition professionals. It does not go through the polishing process and in this way manages to keep all its vitamins and minerals.

Brown rice consists of the grain in its natural form, passing through only a stripping stage. Hence, it is a good source of B vitamins, proteins and minerals such as phosphorus, iron and potassium.

In addition, like other whole grains, this type of rice is rich in fiber, so it helps regulate bowel function and control cholesterol and blood sugar levels.

Still, it contains complex carbohydrates that take longer to digest, brown rice is more efficient at the time of giving feeling of satiety and does not form glycemic peak, the main responsible for that form little absurd time after meals and also the accumulation of fat In the abdominal region.

Brown rice is slightly less caloric than white and parboiled, providing 112 calories per 100 grams. This same amount also provides 45.3% of the daily needs of manganese (0.9 mg) and 32.7% of selenium (less than 0.1 mg). Copper (10% of daily requirements), magnesium (14.3%), phosphorus (12%) and zinc (9%) also stand out in brown rice.

Tips for preparing brown rice
One of the drawbacks of brown rice that keeps away many people from this food is that it is a bit more complex at the time of preparation, but just follow some tips to make the process easier.

The first step is to use more water than you would use to cook white rice: add 2 cups and a half of water to each cup of whole grains. The second tip is to be prepared to wait longer for the cooking, which goes from 30 to 40 minutes.

If you are not used to brown rice, it may be a good idea to change it first to the parboiled, which is more like white, and then to brown rice. You can also mix the varieties in the beginning as long as you cook them separately so that all the grains are in the right place.

If you just can not eat brown rice, at least try to swap the white rice for the parboiled, half-way and offers more health benefits.

Article by Akinbode Toluleke check up Twitter on taakinbode