Reviving Indigenous Rice for Modern Health: A Review

Abstract

Indigenous rice in India is increasingly recognised as a resource for cultural continuity, agricultural resilience, and dietary diversification. This review critically examines relationships among Indian rice landrace diversity, grain composition, processing, glycaemic response, potential health relevance, sustainability, and livelihood value. It also considers how conservation, farmer knowledge, and value-chain development relate to the continued use of locally adapted rice diversity. The terms indigenous, traditional, native, and landrace are treated as related but distinct concepts to avoid broad category-level assumptions. Evidence indicates that genotype, pigmentation, grain fraction, processing, and preparation influence fibre, phenolic and anthocyanin content, starch digestibility, and glycaemic response. However, these differences do not justify assigning a uniformly low-glycaemic or superior nutritional profile to all landraces. Human evidence concerning pigmented rice remains encouraging but inconsistent and largely short-term, while traditional medical uses are best interpreted as cultural knowledge rather than established treatments. The review therefore applies an evidence-graded perspective that links food-matrix characteristics and dietary exposure with health-related outcomes while considering agroecological context. Major research needs include authenticated variety-specific compositional data, standardised glycaemic testing, bioaccessibility and bioavailability studies, adequately powered human interventions, and integrated farm-economic and sustainability comparisons. Conservation and responsible commercialisation may support continued use when accompanied by participatory characterisation, varietal verification, transparent value chains, traceability, and equitable benefit sharing.