Nutritional Diversity of Elite Rice Landrace from Subsistence-oriented Farming Systems

Twenty one prominent rice landraces belonging to different subsistence farming systems in India were evaluated. Manually de-husked rice samples were used for studying sixteen important nutritional parameters. Range of useful nutritional variability was observed among rice landraces and each landrace was found superior for at least one nutritional parameter. Landraces from North-eastern Himalaya in comparison to landraces from other niches were found superior for nutritional traits like protein (12.22–14.32%), phosphorus (0.363–0.740 g/100g), phytate (1.35–2.55 g/100g) and Cu (1.090–2.141 mg/100g) contents. However, clustering analysis revealed no linkage among landraces with respect to their specific traits or geographical origin. The red rice landraces Chuhartu (7.29%) and Katheri (6.63%) from North-western Himalaya registered higher value for crude fat than the check (3.05%). Protein, total phosphorus, antioxidant activity (CUPRAC mg/g GAE) and total anthocyanin content was remarkably higher in black rice (Chakhao amubi and Chakhao poireiton). Significant amount of correlation was observed among different nutritional parameters. Anti-oxidant activity was significantly correlated with phytate, anthocyanin, total phenol and total phosphorus content. 42.17% of nutritional variability was explained by Principal component I which was majorly contributed by total phosphorus, anthocyanin, phytate, CUPRAC and Cu content. The present study indicates the role of local communities in development and enrichment of nutritional diversity of rice.