In Ayurveda, the traditional Indian medical system, colored rice has been called shastika rice and claims that it can restore imbalances in the human body. Pigmented rice is rich in antioxidants and polyphenols and has two or three times as much zinc and iron as white rice [17] which possess the desirable quality to boost, strengthen, regenerate and energize the body [18]. It is also used as baby food and replaces white rice on special occasion in the state. The red color, varying from light to dark red, is confined to the bran layer. Red Rice (Zag, Tel Zag, Gull Zag, Shel Kew, Kaw Quder) Keeps You Away From Obesity, Diabetes and Cancer. Rice with a red bran layer is called red rice. Susruta (400 BC), Charaka (700 BC), and Vagbhata (700 AD), the well-known vriddha trayi (Trio of Elders) of Ayurveda, considered red rice (rakta shali) the best among the other rice varieties, due to desirable property as they had the power to redress the imbalance in the tridosha or humours (the vata, the pitta, and the kapha – are collectively called the tridosha) whose imbalance in the body causes various types of diseases. In recent times, interest in red rices has been revived because of the presence of antioxidants. The antioxidant and scavenging activity of red rice is higher than that of white rice [19].
Ancient Ayurvedic treatises laud the red rice as a nutritive food and medicine. They are known to be influential in the treatment of various ailments such as diarrhea, vomiting, fever, hemorrhage, chest pain, wounds, and burns [20]. Colored rice has been preferred in the past for their special features such as medicinal value and exclusive taste. A large number of these varieties are still grown in various parts of the sate by tribal’s and small farmers who are deprived of modern technologies and health care systems, where indigenous rice with their nutritional and medicinal properties are a rich alternative for the same. This indigenous rice variety in state and India seems to contribute tremendously to the health of the women including adolescent girls, lactating mothers and pregnant women [20]. Ayurvedic properties of Raktasali (red rice) and their effect on human physiology. Red rice (Raktasali) was the most efficacious in subduing deranged humors [21,22]. It was considered good treatment for fevers and ulcers, Improves eyesight, voice improver, semen enhancer, diuretic, spermatophytic, refrigerant, cosmetic, and tonic and was antitoxic.
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