Oryza sativa-Rice
Oryza sativa is an anuual plant and a member of the family Poaceae (formerly Gramineae), that can grow up to ten feet in height. It has jointed culms. The lower portion of the plant will float in water (or lie prostrate) with roots forming at the nodes. The rice plant forms a panicle that will bend when the seed is weighty. It is terminal and diffuse. This spikelet is hermaphrodite and one-flowered.
Rice is considered to be indigenous to China and India. There it was cultivated and introduced to East Africa and Syria and eventually into America. In the Middle Ages, rice found its way into the Mediterranean basin by way of Arab traders from Syria. Today, Arborio rice is grown in the plain of Lombardy of Italy. Some rice is cultivated in Spain and in greenhouses in England (mostly as a curiosity). In Ceylon there are over a hundred and sixty types of rice grown. In India, fifty or sixty types are cultivated (not including wild forms).
There are twenty known species of rice. Of these, only two are cultivated. "Asian rice" is widely grown and can be a better producer if managed properly. However, "African rice" is the hardier of the two. This fact makes it more popular in traditional farming systems, where fertilizers and chemical pesticides are not used as frequently. Rice is the main foodstuff for half the people of the world. This nutrional food, can provide ninety percent of its calories from carbohydrates and nearly thirteen percent from protein.
Other uses for Oryza species include: abdomen, antidote (arsenic), anydrotic, astringent, beri-beri, bowel, breath, burn, cancer (breast), cataplasm, chest, cosmetic, demulcent, dentifrice, diarrhea, diuretic, dysentery, dyspepsia, epistaxis, excipient, eye, fever, filariasis, flux, hematemesis, hidrosis, inflammation, intestine, intoxicant, jaundice, larvicide, nausea, paralysis, piles, preventitive (hiccup), psoriasis, refrigerant, skin, sore, stomachic, sweat, swelling, thirst, tonic, tumor, vermifuge and wart.
Folk medicines use different parts of the rice plant for different ailments. The seed is used for breast cancer, stomach and abdominal maladies. A rice-water decoction is used for febrile diseases, ulcers and dysuria. This drink is considered a demulcent and a refrigerant. The seed is also used for psoriasis and other skin ailments. In the East Indies, the boiled seed is used as a poultice for infected sores. The plant is used for nausea. Its ash for infections and wounds. And, the dried straw is used for dysentery, gout, and rheumatism.
Oryza's use as an intoxicant is well known. The traditional drink called "sake", has its origins in China around four thousand b.c. However, it was the Japanese who began to mass produce this drink. Around three hundred b.c., the Japanese began the practice of wet rice cultivation. It was about this same time that they began to brew sake. The process for making sake involved polishing or milling the rice kernels. This was achieved by each person of a village chewing the rice and then spitting into a communal tub. This community mastication introduced enzymes that were essential for the fermentation process. This practice was even a part of a Shinto religious ceremony. Eventually, this practice was discontinued when a mold enzyme called "koji" (Aspergillus oryzae) and yeast were used to start the fermentation process.
The Shinto religion has been a part of Japanese culture since the Yayoi period (around three hundred b.c.). It is Japan's oldest surviving religion. The deities of Shinto are called "kami", they are the basic force in nature, creativity, disease, growth, and healing. Shinto does not have elaborate philosophies (such as "life after death"), however, shinto does emphasize rituals. Some of these ceremonies include the use of Oryza and sake.
One ceremonial use of sake was as an offering to the Gods and for the purification of the temple. Sake was also consumed by the bride and groom at wedding ceremonies. This ritual is known as "Sansankudo". Today, Shintoists make offerings of rice, rice cakes and sake (along with seaweed, vegetables, fish, salt, water, etc.) during the "presentation of food" stage of the "Divine Procession" (known as "Shinko-sai"). The offered sake is often drank after the festival. Another Shinto ceremony involving Oryza is the rice-planting festival known as "o-taue matsuri".
Some chemicals contained within the plant of Oryza sativa are: acetone, ferulic-acid, glycine, isoeugenol and potassium. The seed of this plant contains: adenine, niacin, oleic-acid, oxalic-acid, potassium, pyridoxine and thiamin. The petiole of this plant contains p-coumaric-acid. The sprout seedling contains beta-sitosterol. The leaf contains shikimic-acid. The juice contains beta-sitosterol. And, the leaf contains stigmasterol.
Oryza sativa needs a sunny location with a mildly rich soil. It is grown in flooded plains called paddies. Known as "lowland rice" or "Asian rice", this plant is started in seedbeds or flats. Germination can be done with a mix of peat and perlite in warm (traditionally salted) water. Optimal water temperature is at eighty-five degrees Farenheit (no cooler than sixty-five degrees). Germination time varies. When seedlings are five to six inches tall, they are then transplanted to the paddy. These should be spaced at least six to eight inches apart. Plants may become dislodged, they should be replanted. The paddy should be kept clear of competing plants and weeds. Fresh water should be introduced from time to time. The water level can be lowered to help warm the rice plants' roots and encourage the plants to tiller or send up new stalks. Harvesting is done when the rice heads bend from the weight of the seeds and the stalks begin to yellow. Oryza glaberrima, known as "African rice" or "upland rice", is grown in a non-submerged setting. It is also known as "red rice" and probably originated in the Niger Delta some three thousand five hundred years ago. It is now cultivated in Nigeria and Sierra Leone.
References
http://ibiblio.org/herbmed/eclectic/kings/oryza.html
Photo
| Back | Next |
 |
|
