Most of the Asian population consists of rice eaters, but the region is also home to 60 per cent of the world's diabetes patients. Now, a premier research institute in the Philippines claims to have developed a new variety of rice that can reduce the risk of diabetes.
The variety could soon be grown in India, said Dr Nese Sreenivasulu, the principal scientist at the grain quality and nutrition centre at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), which developed the rice.
IRRI plans to release the rice to farmers in various countries in Asia and Africa as soon as 2025, according to reports.
How does the new rice variety fight diabetes?
Globally, more than 537 million adults suffer from diabetes. By 2045, the number is likely to go up to 783 million.
The chronic disease is caused by lifestyle factors like being overweight, as well as genetics. Type 2 diabetes happens when the pancreas fails to produce insulin hormone, and cells develop a resistance to insulin, raising blood sugar levels.
Glycemic index or GI, is the measure of how fast a food item can raise blood sugar levels and contribute to diabetes. A GI below 45 is ultra-low in such sugar levels. IRRI has developed a rice variety that has low GI.
The rice, according to IRRI scientists, is also high in protein. It looks similar to white rice, though with smaller grains.
It was developed by converting regular rice varieties into low- or ultra-low GI rice.
The IRRI has already released two low-GI rice varieties in the Philippines, IRRI 125 and IRRI 147.
“We thought that if we could come up with a diet with low glycaemic index properties that could be considered healthier, not only to those subjects who are diabetic and pre-diabetic … then it could be a very good intervention to counter growing incidences [of diabetes]," The Guardian quoted Dr Nese Sreenivasulu as saying. “This could have a big impact in Asia, as well as in Africa, among the rice-consuming countries,” he said.
Right now limited to IRRI laboratories, the rice will soon be on the farms, as Sreenivasulu said the plan was to start growing it in India and the Philippines "as part of the IRRI’s remit to combat poverty and hunger in countries where rice is the staple food."
The Asia-Pacific region accounts for more than 90 per cent of global rice production and consumption.
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