Context: Recently, the Centre imposed 20% export duty on parboiled rice (rice partially boiled with husk), barely a week after imposing 40% duty on exports of onion. 

About Parboiled Rice

• Parboiled rice, also called converted rice, is partially precooked in its inedible husk before being processed for eating.

• It happens before rice is milled, that is before the inedible outer husk is removed to yield brown rice but before brown rice is refined to make white rice.

• In some Asian and African countries, people have been parboiling rice since ancient times as it makes the husks easier to remove by hand.

The main steps of parboiling are

• Soaking: Raw, unhusked rice, also called paddy rice, is soaked in warm water to increase the moisture content.

• Steaming: The rice is steamed until the starch converts into a gel. The heat of this process also helps kill bacteria and other microbes.

• Drying: The rice is slowly dried to reduce the moisture content so that it can be milled.

• Husking: The dried, partially cooked rice is then milled to remove the outer husk. The result is parboiled rice.

• Parboiling changes the color of rice to a light yellow or amber, which differs from the pale, white color of regular rice. 

• During parboiling, some water-soluble nutrients move from the bran of the rice kernel into the starchy endosperm. This minimizes some of the nutrient loss that normally happens during refining when making white rice.

Benefits

• Parboiling rice improves its texture, increases its shelf life, and provides health benefits.

• Parboiled rice is higher in fiber and protein than white rice.

• Parboiling reduces the stickiness of rice so it yields fluffy and separate kernels once cooked.

• Additionally, parboiling inactivates the enzymes that break down the fat in rice. This helps prevent rancidity and off-flavors, increasing shelf-life

• Notably, parboiled rice has significantly more thiamine and niacin than white rice. These nutrients are important for energy production.

Potential downsides

• It’s less nutritious than brown rice.

• It takes a little longer to cook.

• The rice becomes darker and may smell unpleasant due to prolonged soaking.

• Arsenic Levels: Like all rice, parboiled rice contains levels of inorganic arsenic. Eating large amounts of rice can lead to toxic levels of arsenic in bloodstream, which can be particularly harmful for young children.

• High cost: Besides setting up a dedicated parboiling rice milling unit, it also costs a higher investment than a raw rice milling unit.

• Lack of demand: During Rabi season, there is no market for it, so the Food Corporation of India is not able to procure parboiled rice which creates financial distress among farmers.

• Lobbying: For personal and political gains, the political sides and millers stress adopting alternate cropping other than parboiling rice, while farmers suffer.

Conclusion

• Although parboiled rice is a healthier alternative to traditional white rice, it is not the healthiest grain on the market today. There are various other healthier alternatives to parboiled rice which includes brown rice, quinoa, barley, and buckwheat.