International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2002, 37, 1±12 1

Review
Basmati rice: a review

Paramita Bhattacharjee, Rekha S. Singhal* & Pushpa R. Kulkarni

Food & Fermentation Technology Division, University Department of Chemical Technology, University of Mumbai,
Matunga, Mumbai, India
(Received 21 February 2001; Accepted in revised form 29 August 2001)

Summary India contributes about one-third of the world acreage under rice. Rice is available in over
5000 varieties, of which Basmati rice occupies a prime position on account of its extra long
super®ne slender grains, pleasant, exquisite aroma, ®ne cooking quality, sweet taste, soft
texture, length-wise elongation with least breadth-wise swelling on cooking and tenderness
of cooked rice. This article reviews the quality and aroma traits of Basmati rice,
particularly the varieties grown in di€erent parts of India and Pakistan, the agronomy,
breeding and physiology of the grain, the trade scenario, Agmark grade designation for
export and the US patent of new hybrid strains of Basmati.
Keywords Basmati rice, marketing and trade, quality.

tively called `Basmati' (bas ˆ aroma) and are

Introduction
Rice, Oryza sativa, the staple food of nearly one-
half of world's population, contributes over 20%
of the total calorie intake of man. But in Asia,
where 95% of the world's rice is produced and
consumed, it contributes 40±80% of the calories of
the Asian diet. India is one of the largest rice
growing countries of the world, second only to
China, cultivating 43 million hectares annually,
which is about a third of the world acreage under
rice (Muthu, 1993). Oryza sativa Linn is the major
cereal crop of India, being available in over 5000
varieties di€ering with respect to size, texture,
glutinous nature, aroma and cooking quality
(Vachhani et al., 1962).
Aromatic rice occupies a prime position in
Indian culture, not only because of their high
quality, but that they have been considered
auspicious. India had an immense wealth of
aromatic rices, many have been lost during the
last three decades as an aftermath of the green
revolution where emphasis was on yield rather
than quality. These highly valued rices are collec-
*Correspondent: Fax: 022-414-5614;
e-mail: rekha@foodbio.udct.ernet.in
popular not only throughout Asia but also in
Europe and USA. Lately, the de®nition of Bas-
mati was changed to include its other ®ne grain
qualities. Basmati rice is traditionally grown in the
Himalayan foothill regions of India and Pakistan
and the name is traditionally associated with this
geographical origin (Bligh, 2000). It is generally
accepted that good quality Basmati rice is charac-
terized by extra long super®ne slender grains with
chalky endosperm and a shape comparable with a
Turkish dagger; pleasant and exquisite aroma,
sweet taste, dry, ¯u€y and soft texture when
cooked, delicate curvature, low amylose, medium-
low gelatinization temperature, 1.5 to 2-fold
length-wise elongation with least breadth-wise
swelling on cooking and tenderness of cooked rice
(Siddiq et al., 1997). As a result of all these
properties, Basmati rice commands a premium
price in the world market. However, for Indian
farmers and the consumers, aroma is rated the
highest desired trait followed by taste and elonga-
tion after cooking. Basmati rice ± the scented
pearl, is nature's gift exclusive to the Indian sub-
continent. Following partition in 1947, a sizeable
Basmati growing area went to Pakistan, thereby
bringing down the acreage and production of

Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd

2 Basmati rice: a review P. Bhattacharjee et al.
Basmati rice in independent India. The farmer's
and miller's concern is to get high price of produce
(both paddy and rice) which is determined by
market quality standards comprising of shape, size
and colour of rice, percentage of milling, hulling
and head rice recovery (Ahuja et al., 1995).
Agronomy
The traditional Basmati cultivars are tall in stature
(about 160 cm or more), are very poor grain
yielders and can lodge under high doses of nitro-
genous fertilizers. Basmati rices are susceptible to
blast, bacterial leaf blight, stem borer and white
backed plant hopper (Siddiq et al., 1997). Timing
Basmati sowing and transplanting is critical for
ensuring high yields and better quality. Sowing
nursery in the ®rst week of June is ideal in western
Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan and Jammu &
Kashmir. However, in the Punjab, raising nursery
during the last week of May ensures strong aroma
and high yields. In Haryana, although late sowing
has been the practice in the past to ensure quality,
early June sowing is now followed to ward o€ blast
disease (Siddiq et al., 1997). In Pakistan, Basmati
seeds are planted in nursery beds during July. In
both the countries, in August and September, when
the seedlings reach about eight inches in height,
they are transplanted by hand in water-¯ooded
®elds. The rice is harvested towards the end of
October and in November.
Tall Basmati varieties are photosensitive and
need short days for induction of ¯owering. Sen-
sitive varieties ¯ower when the day length is
decreasing and reaches a critical stage for induc-
tion of the ¯owering. This e€ect on ¯owering, by
shortening day length, in¯uences the ripening
period. Photosensitive index/phase is higher in
sensitive varieties like traditional Basmati lines
and less in insensitive varieties like improved or
newly released Basmati types as Pusa Basmati 1
and Haryana Basmati 1 (Ahuja et al., 1995).
Cooking quality of Basmati rice is greatly
in¯uenced by environmental factors, soil fertility,
irrigation practices (Singh & Singh, 1997), spacing,
time of transplanting, harvesting and storage
(Ali et al., 1991). Basmati rice grown in an alkaline
and poor soil or under de®cient water supply
conditions, particularly during the grain forma-
tion stage, shows excessive abdominal whiteness in
International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2002, 37, 1±12
grains and cooking quality is adversely a€ected.
Early transplanting impairs cooking quality as
grains are extremely opaque or exhibit abdominal
whiteness because of improper development under
high temperature caused by loose packing of the
starch molecules (Ali et al., 1991; Azeez & Sha®,
1996).
The seeds of the traditional Basmati varieties
from outside India and Pakistan are produced on a
commercial basis. Most of these varieties are
photosensitive and require a speci®c, short day
length before they ¯ower. This results in the plant
¯owering and maturing in the fall of the year
regardless of the date of planting. Such photoperiod
sensitive Basmati rice grown at approximately the
same latitude in another country (e.g. at about 30°N
in the USA) as in India, will be ready for harvest in
late November, which is too late for a commercial
variety. If planted in March (a normal planting time
in Texas), the plant will add foliage until the critical
day length is reached and will only then ¯ower.
Consequently, the plants become very tall and
leafy, causing lodging under winds and rainy
conditions. The maturity of such Texas grown
Basmati varieties can reach 200 days or more. Late
June or July planting of a sensitive Indian or
Pakistani Basmati rice gives a better plant type but
the yields are low and the rice may be subjected to
early frosts leading to irreversible maturity.
Composition of Basmati rice
Inspite of being an important agricultural com-
modity, information on the proximate composi-
tion of di€erent varieties of Basmati rice is scanty.
The proximate composition of Basmati-257 vari-
ety and an authentic variety from Kurukshetra,
crop 1998, has been studied in our laboratory.
Table 1 presents the data on proximate composi-
tion of the same.
The protein content in common rice varieties,
including scented ones, ranges from 7.1±8.9%
although some exceptions exist. One example is
the Pusa variety, which has a protein content of
9.5%. Basmati rice compares well with the com-
mon rice varieties with respect to protein content;
ash content and crude ®bre are at 0.52±1.15% and
0.95±1.82% respectively for Basmati as shown in
Table 1, vis-aÁ-vis 0.52±2.25 and 0.47±1.63% for
common rices respectively. The carbohydrates and
Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd
 Basmati rice: a review P. Bhattacharjee et al. 3

Table 1 Proximate composition of

Basmati varieties Protein Crude Ash Crude
Basmati variety (%) lipids (%) (%) ®bre (%) Carbohydrate

Basmati-257 9.13 2.38 1.15 0.95 77.35

Authentic Basmati crop, 7.62 1.58 0.52 1.82 79.37
Kurukshetra, 1998

Source: Ramarathnam & Kulkarni, unpublished data; Bhattacharjee & Kulkarni,

unpublished data.

lipid contents are fairly comparable. The fatty acid
composition of the triglycerides of rice lipids has
been reported to be 16.87±26.44% of palmitic
acid, 48.72±62.92% oleic acid and 24.84±25.31%
of linoleic acid. These are the three major fatty
acids for Basmati-257 as against 19.18, 57.82 and
17.90% of palmitic, oleic and linoleic acids respec-
tively in common rice varieties (Ramarathnam
et al., 1983). The amino-acid pro®le of Basmati
rice is believed to be similar to other rice varieties,
as no di€erences have been reported as of yet.
Quality characteristics of Basmati rice
General appearance and cooking
quality characteristics
Basmati rice possesses characteristics of both
indica and japonica types and may be considered
as an intermediate group between the two (Ahuja
et al., 1995). It is similar to the indica type in
morphological features, but di€ers in phenol
reactions, iso-enzyme patterns (Glaszmann, 1987),
kernel appearance (opaque as against translucent
of indica) and in cooking as well as eating qualities
(intermediate amylose content, medium gel length
of 40±60 mm and medium alkali value) in contrast
to indica with high amylose and hard gel. Table 2
summarizes the morphological features of Basmati
rice in general.
The consumer's concern is to get rice of good
cooking and eating qualities, this is largely
dependent on the physico-chemical properties of
starch which make up 90% of milled rice. Several
component traits like apparent amylose content
(AC), gel consistency (GC), water absorption,
volume expansion and ®nal starch gelatinization
temperature (GT) collectively determine cooking
and eating qualities of rice (Sidhu, 1989; Ahuja
et al., 1995). Basmati rice falls in the category of
non-waxy, non-glutinous rice with intermediate
AC and GT and does not stick on cooking.
Besides, this has medium gel strength, which is
most preferred, as it cooks ¯aky and remains soft
on cooling and has the high volume expansion of
high amylose rice (Sood & Siddiq, 1980).
Not much information is available on traits,
such as kernel dimensions in terms of length/
breadth ratio (l/b), elongation ratio, di€erential l/b
ratio, water uptake ratio as g/100 g of rice, loss of
solids in cooking water in g/100 g of rice, swelling
index, swelling number, volume expansion ratio
and the cooking quality aspects of Basmati rice
except for a few selected varieties. However, the
following cooking quality characteristics, change
in l/b ratio, volume expansion, loss of solids in the
cooking gruel and water uptake on cooking
(Ramarathnam & Kulkarni, 1984, 1985), compo-
sition of amylose/amylopectin of its starch, gelat-
inization and pasting characteristics of the rice
¯our by Brabender Amylograph (N. Ramarath-
nam & P.R. Kulkarni, unpublished data) have
been investigated in our laboratory. A comparative
study has also been made on the physical charac-
teristics and cooking quality parameters of com-
mercial brands of Basmati rice available in the
local markets of Mumbai city (Bhattacharjee &
Kulkarni, 2000). The cooking quality characteris-
tics of some Basmati rice varieties are shown in
Table 3.
Table 2 Description of size and shape of Basmati rice
Scale Size Length, l (mm)a Shape l/b ratiob
1 Extra long > 7.50 Slender > 3.0
2 Long 6.61±7.50 Medium 2.1±3.0
3 Medium 5.51±6.60 Bold 1.1±2.0
4 Short 5.50 or < Round 1.0 or <
a
Milled rice has been classi®ed into four categories on the
basis of the average length of the kernels.
b
Grain shape is expressed by l/b ratio of kernels (l ˆ length,
b ˆ breadth).
Source: Ahuja et al. (1995).

Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2002, 37, 1±12
4 Basmati rice: a review P. Bhattacharjee et al.
Table 3 Cooking quality characteristics of Basmati rice varieties
Quality trait Basmati 257 Basmati 370
Length (mm), l ± 6.76
Breadth (mm), b ± 1.76
l/b ratio ± 3.84
Elongation ratio 2.0 1.88
Water uptake (g/100 g) 298.8 221
Volume expansion ratio 3.0 3.92
Source: Ahuja et al. (1995), Ramarathnam & Kulkarni (1984, 1985).
A high l/b ratio implies least breadth-wise
swelling on cooking. Length-wise expansion (grain
elongation) upon cooking without increase in girth
is a very desirable trait of Basmati rice. It is 5.0 in
Basmati and as low as 1.49 in other varieties
(Mehrotra et al., 1973). Length/breadth ratio after
cooking seems to be independent of grain elonga-
tion but is closely correlated with volume expan-
sion, grain weight and l/b ratio before cooking
(Sood, 1978). The long duration varieties (145±
150 days) have a greater l/b ratio after cooking
(Singh et al., 1988). Basmati with intermediate AC
(20±25%) has as high a volume expansion as that
of high amylose rice (Sood & Siddiq, 1980).
Amylose content increases with decrease in
climatic temperature. Such changes are not signi-
®cant in waxy and high amylose starch, but are
more prominent in Basmati type rices. Decrease in
amylose as a result of increased temperature
a€ects grain appearance as it results in decreased
translucency of the grain. Anatomical features
such as endosperm cells a€ect grain elongation.
Basmati type rice has pentagonal or hexagonal
cells arranged in a honey-comb fashion in contrast
to long rectangular radially arranged cells in other
varieties. Water uptake during cooking is related
positively with grain elongation, which in turn is
in¯uenced by environmental factors, especially
temperature, at the time of ripening. The ambient
temperature of 25/21 °C (day/night) at ripening
has a favourable e€ect on grain elongation, which
decreases with increase in temperature (Ahuja
et al., 1995). This explains the quality di€erences,
especially in elongation, between Basmati grown
in the Punjab and Pakistan. Basmati grown in the
Punjab elongates more than that grown in Sind in
Pakistan because of the higher ambient tempera-
ture in Sind (Khush et al., 1979). Compared with
other cultivars, Basmati rice starch exhibits an
International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2002, 37, 1±12
Haryana Basmati-1 Pusa Basmati-1
6.74 6.82
1.65 1.73
4.08 3.94
1.70 1.89
338 228
3.80 3.81
intermediate GT (70±74 °C) and medium gel
strength which is the most preferred as it cooks
¯aky and remains soft on cooking.
Traditionally Basmati rice demands a special
cooking method of pre-soaking, boiling with an
optimum amount of water and spreading for
cooling. The technique to develop quick cooking
rice (QCR), hitherto used for non-scented rice has
been extended to Basmati rice. Work has been
done on the e€ect of processing on the cooking
quality of Basmati QCR, as tested by sensory
pro®ling and complemented by GC-head-space
volatiles for analysis of the Basmati ¯avour release
during rehydration (Ramesh et al., 2000).
Basmati rice from India and Pakistan show in
general that the grains: (1) elongate by more than
75% during cooking, yielding whole grains with a
length to width ratio > 3.5, (2) have a strong
`popcorn' aroma, (3) are somewhat chalky (white
centre) and generally have a low transparency,
(4) are often milled to a low degree and thus show
more bran streaks, (5) vary considerably in colour
and chalkiness from lot to lot, and (6) cook to a
dry and ¯u€y texture. Good quality Basmati rice
from India and Pakistan also have distinctive
starch properties such as a minimum apparent AC
of 21%, low GT and a medium to hard gel
consistency. Basmati rice from India and Pakistan
has a higher percentage of white centred and white
belly grains than American long grain rice. This
apparently is varietal and environmentally related.
Some Basmati rice is parboiled, and is known as
Sella Basmati rice in India and the Middle East
and Cook Basmati in the UK. Parboiled Basmati
rice requires a higher water to rice ratio, takes
longer to cook and elongates a little more than
regular Basmati rice during cooking but the
characteristic chalkiness and aroma of Basmati
rice are eliminated in the parboiling process.
Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd

Aroma characteristics of Basmati rice
Basmati emits speci®c aroma in the ®eld at
harvesting, in storage, during milling, cooking
and eating (Je€erson, 1985). Aroma is fast devel-
oped when Basmati is grown in areas where the
temperature is cooler at maturity. When grown
outside the Punjab region in Pakistan, Basmati is
not aromatic. Standard cultivars grown in Sind
(Pakistan) mature without aroma (Juliano, 1972).
Aroma is the result of genetic factors and envi-
ronment. The climate and/or soil of the Punjab of
Pakistan, Haryana, Punjab and western UP of
India are most suitable for expression of aroma
and other quality traits. Aroma is lower in early
transplanted (1 June) crop (Ali et al., 1991).
The characteristic sweet aroma of Basmati rice
is released when the grain is cooked and is said to
resemble the aroma of the ¯owers of Madhuca
longifolia. It is not de®nitely known in which part
of the grain the scent is concentrated. The active
principle of the aroma is 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline
which is present in all rices at the level of 0.04±
0.06 ppm but is present in signi®cantly higher (ten
times) concentration in aromatic cultivars, especi-
ally Basmati (Buttery et al., 1983). This compo-
nent is also present even in the rice plant. Aroma
is caused by certain chemicals in the endosperm.
In addition to 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline, there are about
100 volatile compounds responsible for Basmati
¯avour, which include thirteen hydrocarbons,
fourteen acids, thirteen alcohols, sixteen alde-
hydes, fourteen ketones, eight esters, ®ve phenols,
etc. (Hussain et al., 1987). A recent study com-
pared a commercial Basmati and Italian line B5-3
for the aroma of cooked rice and is summarized in
Table 4. Steam distillation studies, determination
of alkaline oxidation value (AOV), estimation of
acetaldehyde, ¯avour extraction by the Likens±
Nickerson method and characterization of the
¯avour impact compounds by GC and TLC
methods have been reported (Tsugita et al., 1978;
Yajima et al., 1978; Buttery et al., 1982, 1983,
1986, 1988; Ramarathnam et al., 1983; Hussain
et al., 1987; Lin et al., 1990; Tanchotikul & Hsich,
1991; Tava & Bocchi, 1999). The yield of total
volatile ¯avour components in the Likens±Nick-
erson extract of Basmati rice has been reported to
be 28±30 ppm (Ramarathnam, 1982). Gas chro-
matographic analysis of Basmati rice volatiles
Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2002, 37, 1±12
Basmati rice: a review P. Bhattacharjee et al. 5
a
Table 4 Volatile compounds (ppb) detected in commercial
Basmati rice and Italian line B5-3
Compound Basmati Italian B5-3
Aldehydes 5952 (47.44) 3655 (28.33)
Alcohols 1869 (14.89) 2003 (15.53)
Hydrocarbons 548 (4.36) 485 (3.77)
Ketones 234 (1.86) 257 (1.99)
Heterocyclic compounds 1220 (7.84) 4045 (25.61)
Phenols 534 (4.25) 382 (2.96)
Disulphides 79 (0.63) 66 (0.51)
Terpenes 257 (2.05) 268 (2.08)
a
Values within parenthesis indicate the relative abundance in
percentage.
showed it to be rich in hexanol, propionaldehyde
and acetaldehyde as compared with common rice
volatiles. Characterization of ¯avour produced in
plant cell cultures of Basmati (Oryza sativa Linn)
have also been reported (Mohanty et al., 1991;
Suvarnalatha et al., 1994). Attempts are also being
made in our laboratory to extract Basmati vola-
tiles using the supercritical ¯uid extraction tech-
nique with carbon dioxide.
Effect of ageing on Basmati rice
Chemical and bio-chemical processes govern the
changes of rice on ageing, these in turn modify its
cooking, eating and nutritional characteristics,
especially the ¯avour pro®le of aromatic rices
such as Basmati, and thus ultimately in¯uence its
commercial value. The time taken for all the rice
varieties to cook increases gradually during the
storage period.
Changes in cooking quality characteristics
Fine varieties such as Basmati take a relatively
longer time to cook than other common rice
varieties. There is also a gradual increase in l/b
ratio of the cooked rice grains during ageing. Over
a period of 120 days, the ratio of increase in length
to increase in breadth (Dl/Db) of the cooked grains
increased in the range of 10±20%, the maximum
being in the case of Basmati rice. In almost all rice
varieties, the loss of water solubles decreased as
the ageing period increased. Over a period of
4 months, the loss of solids ranged between 82 and
95% with respect to the values at the beginning of
storage (taken as 100%) and 40±70% over a
6 Basmati rice: a review P. Bhattacharjee et al.
period of 8 months. An increased uptake of water
by the rice grains has also been reported on
ageing. In this respect, Basmati rice records the
highest water uptake values of 354±356 g/100 g of
rice as against 217±352 g/100 g for other rice
varieties. Moreover there is an appreciable
decrease in a-amylase enzyme activity during
storage for Basmati and some ®ne varieties,
whereas it is insigni®cant for other common rice
varieties (Ramarathnam & Kulkarni, 1984; N.M.
Vaingankar & P.R. Kulkarni, unpublished data).
Changes in aroma pro®le
The aroma of Basmati rice has been correlated to
AOV which is de®ned as the number of parts by
weight of oxygen required to oxidise 105 parts of
the sample under standard conditions. It is an
indicator of the reducing ¯avour volatiles of rice.
Alcohols and carbonyl compounds make a signi-
®cant contribution to this value (Kent-Jones &
Amos, 1947; Pearson, 1970). Storage studies on
common and Basmati rice varieties have revealed
a decrease in AOV from fourteen for freshly
harvested rice to eight after 6 months of storage
on an average. This decline indicates the forma-
tion of ¯avour compounds of a reducing nature in
old rice (N.M. Vaingankar & P.R. Kulkarni,
unpublished data).
Distribution of Basmati and its different
varieties
Distributed all over the rice growing world, ®ne
grained aromatic rices are concentrated in India
and Pakistan (Basmati rices), Afganistan, Iran,
Thailand (Jasmine rices) and in Mayanmar (Sadri
rices). Apart from India, major breeding centres of
aromatic rices are in Pakistan, Thailand, USA,
Iran and China. In the USA, systematic breeding
has resulted in the release of the scented cultivars ±
Della, Della-X2, Jasmine 85 and Texas. However,
Basmati rice from India and Pakistan are preferred
by the consumers in USA, Europe and Arabian
countries (Siddiq et al., 1997). The traditional
cultivar Khao Dwak Mah and its derivatives from
Thailand are very popular with American and
European consumers. In fact, The Grain and Feed
Trade Association in the UK (the largest Basmati
rice market in Europe and largest importer of
International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2002, 37, 1±12
Basmati rice in the world) in co-operation with the
UK Local Authorities Co-ordinating Body on
Trading Standards (LACOTS), has established a
code of practice for rice, which is used by
companies operating in that market. This code
allows the term Basmati rice to be applied to only
the long grain aromatic rice grown in India and
Pakistan. Similarly, Saudi Arabia, the world's
largest importer of Basmati rice, has labelling
regulations that permits Basmati rice only from
India and Pakistan to be marketed as Basmati rice.
The quality aromatic rices have recently gained
international status with the ®rst international ®ne
grained `Aromatic Rice Observational Nursery
Trial' organized by IRRI involving twenty-six
locations. This trial included a total of thirty
cultivars including Basmati from India and Pakis-
tan (Singh & Singh, 1997). The scent or natural
fragrance in the kernel is the much valued quality
factor. Because of this feature, the scented variet-
ies are given a premium price, irrespective of the
variations of the size of the kernels. In the choicest
preparations like `Biryani' and `Pulao' that are
relished almost universally, Basmati rices are the
most preferred and so command a very high
premium price in both international and domestic
markets. Other scented varieties besides Basmati
cultivated in India are Tilak Chandan, Kala
Namak, Vishnu Parag, Sakkarchini, Lalmati,
Badshah Pasand, Bahantapul, Motachinaeum
and Adamchini in the Uttar Pradesh state of
India; Tulsi Manjari in Bihar; T-812 and Badshah
bhog in Orissa; Gopalbhog, Badshahbhog, Gov-
indbhog, Kaminibhog and Radhunipagal in West
Bengal; Kamod and Ambemohar in Maharashtra;
Zeerasal and Muskan in Gujarat and Dubraj and
Badshahbhog in the Madhya Pradesh (Pathak,
1991). Every scented rice cannot be accepted as
Basmati because of its special features (Mani
et al., 1993) such as extra long super®ne grains,
length-wise elongation with least breadth-wise
swelling on cooking etc., as elaborated before.
The details of Basmati growing districts in India
and Pakistan and the di€erent varieties grown are
shown in Tables 5 and 6.
Basmati is grown annually in the Punjab prov-
ince of Pakistan, Haryana, western Uttar Pradesh
and Punjab state in India. Among these, Basmati
produced in Haryana is of super®ne quality and
ful®ls all the needs of the export quality. The area
Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd
 Basmati rice: a review P. Bhattacharjee et al. 7

Table 5 Basmati growing districts in India and Pakistan

Country State District

India East Punjab Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Faridkot, Kapurthala, Jallandhar, Ludhiana, Patiala, Ropar and Pathankot
Uttar Pradesh Bareilly, Dilibhit, Nainital, Saharanpur, Rampur, Bijinor, Haridwar, Moradabad, Shahjahanpur,
Dehradun, Kheri, Muzaffarnagar, Pauri, Tehri and Basti
Haryana Karnal, Panipat, Kaithal, Kurukshetra, Jind, Ambala, Sonipat and Sirsa
Bihar East and West Champaran
Pakistan West Punjab Gujaranwala, Sheikhupura, Sialkot, Lahore, Kasur, Sahiwal and Bhawal Nagar
Baluchistan Nasirabad

Source: Anonymous (1962), Ahuja et al. (1995).

Table 6 States and type of Basmati rice grown
State Type of Basmati
Punjab Basmati 370 and 217
Uttar Pradesh Basmati T - 3 and N - 1013
Jammu & Kashmir Basmati - 370
Assam AS - 3
West-Bengal Bankura - 33
Source: Anonymous (1962), Ahuja et al. (1995).
under Basmati rice ranged from 30±40% of total
rice area in Haryana, whereas it was 3±4% and
5% of total rice area in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab
respectively (Jasol, 1989).
Trials on breeding of Basmati
The varietal improvement of Basmati rice was
initiated in 1920s at Kala Shah Kaku in erstwhile
Punjab (now in Pakistan) and Nagina in Uttar
Pradesh. Earlier e€orts were made to develop
varieties through pure line selection from available
agro-commercial group. At Kala Shah Kaku, a
collection of Basmati land rices with short bold,
short slender, medium slender, long bold and long
slender grain types, awned or non-awned type and
red or golden husked was made. Basmati 370 was
selected from these land races for cultivation in
Punjab in 1933. A number of other varieties like
Basmati 217, Mushkan, Begumi, Hansraj, T-23,
T-3 (Dehradun Basmati), N-10B, N-12 etc. were
also developed in the Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
These varieties were of tall stature with weak
stems, non-responsive to higher doses of fertilizer,
and low yields but were famous for aroma and
speci®c cooking qualities and taste. With the intro-
duction of the dwar®ng gene in 1964, e€orts were
concentrated, through hybridization, to develop
high yielding aromatic varieties by reducing plant
height and retaining the quality traits of tradi-
tional Basmati. Sustained and systematic research
e€orts for over two decades has resulted in the
development of Pusa Basmati 1 and Kasturi.
Other dwarf Basmati rice cultures of promise that
are in the advanced stages of testing are IET
10367, IET 11348, IET 10650, IET 11341 and IET
12019 (Siddiq et al., 1997). The world's ®rst high
yielding semi-dwarf Basmati variety Pusa Basmati
1 is a derivative of the cross Pusa 150/Karnal
Local. Combining all the key quality features of
Basmati rices, Pusa Basmati 1 matures in 135 days
and yields 4500 kg ha±1 ± 1000±1500 kg more than
the traditional Basmati rices. Kasturi is a deriv-
ative of the cross Basmati 370/CRR 88-17-1-5.
Kasturi matures in 125 days and on an average
yields 4000 kg ha±1 ± a tonne (1000 kg) more than
the traditional Basmati rices. No high yielding
variety is available which matches Basmati 370
and Taraori Basmati in cooking and eating
qualities.
The main active centres for Basmati improve-
ment have been Kaul, Kapurthala, Pantnagar and
IARI, New Delhi. The research work on this
aspect was initiated under All-India co-ordinated
Rice Improvement Programme. The evaluation of
the material developed at various centres was
initiated in 1970s. But it was not possible to make
signi®cant improvements because of the compli-
cated nature of the quality traits and the poor
combining ability of the Basmati strains. Dr E.A.
Siddiq initiated a Basmati improvement pro-
gramme at IARI, New Delhi, in the late 1960s
under the inspiration of Dr M.S. Swaminathan.
Natural variability available for various quality
traits was identi®ed and the optimum limits were
®xed for the selection criteria. The material was

Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2002, 37, 1±12
8 Basmati rice: a review P. Bhattacharjee et al.
developed at various centres under the High
yielding Export Quality Basmati Trial (HYEQBT)
in 1979 in Basmati growing states (Anonymous,
1980).
Although a large gene pool of Basmati quality
rice is available, only a few of the cultivars,
Basmati ± 370 (Punjab Basmati), Karnal Local
(Travadi Basmati), Type-3 (Dehradun Basmati),
Basmati 217, Kasturi and Pusa Basmati 1 meet the
stringent quality control requirements for export
(Siddiq et al., 1997). Basmati rice is susceptible to
a number of biotic and abiotic stresses resulting in
an average yield of less than one tonne per hectare.
Organized breeding under the Directorate of Rice
Research has produced the medium to high
yielding semi-dwarf Basmati cultivars as Pusa
Basmati 1, Kasturi and Haryana Basmati and a
number of entries are at the Advanced Varietal
Trial Stage (AVT ± Basmati) (Anonymous, 1996).
Basmati hybrids lacking the traditional ¯avour are
likely to fail in the market. Even the Pusa Basmati
1 which was introduced by the IARI in the 1980s
as a high yielding variety is now being positively
shunned by the Basmati trade because it lacks the
aroma present in the traditional grain and confu-
ses the buyers. The possible in¯uence of pedocli-
matic characteristics on sensory properties related
to aroma composition need to be determined in
developing new cultivars and de®ning new agro-
nomic techniques. Location speci®c improved
Basmati quality rices would go a long way to
increase the production and hence the export
earnings of the producing countries. The Agmark
grade designations and de®nitions of quality of
Basmati rice (for export only) are given in Table 7.
Recently, the Indian Agricultural Research
Institute (IARI) has successfully developed the
country's ®rst hybrid Basmati rice, which promises
to push up the production of the foreign exchange
earning premium of rice varieties substantially.
This Basmati hybrid variety would give 20±25%
Table 7 Agmark grade designation of Basmati rice
Grade Foreign Brokens and
Variety designation matter fragments
Raw Special 0.5 5.0
Parboiled A 1 10
B 2 10
Source: Mahindru (1995).
International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2002, 37, 1±12
higher yield than the best yielding Basmati rice. It
conforms to all the special parameters like aroma,
non-stickiness, pre-cooking length±width norms
and post-cooking elongation and has marked a
de®nite improvement over high yielding varieties
developed earlier (Anonymous, 1999).
Very recently, in a move to make the Basmati
business more transparent, the Union Govern-
ment is planning to formally distinguish between
the traditional Basmati varieties and the hybrids
released by agricultural research bodies under the
Seed Act, as there is a substantial price di€erential
between these two categories arising out of di€er-
ent genetic characteristics. An additional advant-
age of the new classi®cation would be to
harmonize India's standards with that of other
producing countries.
On the world scale, e€orts to improve the
versatility or productivity of Basmati rice lines
have had only limited success. One such e€ort has
been to breed rice lines that can be cultivated in
the Western hemisphere and produce grains with
some of the desired Basmati grain characteristics.
These e€orts have yielded a number of aromatic
rice types often referred to generically as `Basmati
type rice'. These include the Della rice and the
widely distributed `Texmati' brand of rice. These
products are somewhat less aromatic than pre-
mium Basmati rice from India and Pakistan.
Moreover, they typically elongate only 50% on
cooking (which is about the same extent as regular
long grain rice), and have a cooked texture
somewhat di€erent to that of the traditional good
quality Basmati rice (Anonymous, 1999).
Trade scenario
Marketing and export
Nearly two-thirds of the Basmati rice produced in
India is exported. The bulk of the export is directed
Other rices including Damaged, discoloured Moisture
red grains and chalky grains (%)
10 1 14
15 2 14
20 3 14
Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd

towards the Middle-East region. A small percent-
age is exported to the European countries and the
North American sub-continent. Until 1980, India's
share of the export of Basmati rice was negligible.
From 1980 onwards, the rice millers of Punjab,
particularly Amritsar, took a lead to introduce
Basmati rice in the export markets (Manjeshwar,
1993). In 1997, export to the Middle East, Africa
and Russia has earned annually over US$ 116 mil-
lion in foreign exchange. This accounts for 64% of
the foreign exchange earned by the country
through the export of agricultural commodities
excluding plantation crops and marine products
(Siddiq et al., 1997).
In 1997 alone, India exported about 4.7 ´ 108 kg
of Basmati rice earning foreign exchange worth
around US$ 332 million. Very recently the export
®gure has reached US$ 401 million (1999±2000).
European imports of Basmati-like rices is expected
to reach 70 000 ´ 103 kg per year in the near
future, as a new European law allow imports at
lower tax rates (Tava & Bocchi, 1999).
For export purpose, the grade designation used
for Basmati are ± grain length of 6 mm and above
and length to breadth ratio of 3 and above. As per
Agmark, general characteristics of Basmati rice
for export include the following:
(1) The grains must be long, slender, of white,
greyish or creamy white colour and translucent.
The rice (a) shall be the dried matured kernels of
Oryza sativa; and have uniform size, shape and
colour; red grains shall not exceed 2%; (b) shall
possess in a marked degree the natural fragrance
characteristic of Basmati rice both in the raw and
in the cooked state; (c) shall not have been
arti®cially coloured and shall be free from polish-
ing agents. (d) may contain up to 3% of grains
with an appreciable amount of bran thereon;
(e) shall be free from musty obnoxious odour and
shall carry no signs of mould or contain webs and
Table 8 Export statistics of Basmati and non-Basmati rice varieties between 1995 and 1998
Basmati varieties
6
Year Quantity (´10 kg) Approx. value (in millions of US$)
1995±1996 373.31 236.74
1996±1997 523.16 349.21
1997±1998 581.79 435.16
Source: Anonymous (1998).
Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd
Basmati rice: a review P. Bhattacharjee et al. 9
dead or live weevils; (f) shall have length 6.0 mm
and above and l/b ratio of 3.0 and above and (g)
shall be in sound merchantable condition. Table 8
gives export statistics of Basmati and non-Basmati
rices of India.
Until recently, India had no system of classify-
ing the di€erent varieties of Basmati being grown
in the country and the export inspection agency
only di€erentiated Basmati under the Grades A, B
and Special, as highlighted before. The category of
the premium traditionally grown varieties would
now include: Basmati 370, Basmati 386, Type-3,
Taraori Basmati (HBC-19), Basmati 217 and
Ranbir Basmati IET (11348). The crosses released
by the agricultural universities are to be classi®ed
as `Indian Basmati' which will include Pusa
Basmati-1 (IET 10364), Punjab Basmati-1 (Bauni
Basmati), Kasturi (IET-8580), Haryana Basmati-1
and Mahi Sugandha. All these eleven varieties are
de®ned as Basmati under the Seed Act. All the
varieties similar in appearance and cooking qual-
ity to real Basmati, such as `Sharbati', may now be
classi®ed under a new category `Aromatic rice'.
Earlier, there was no provision for aromatic long
grains like Sharbati to exist independently of the
other non-Basmati rices (Srinivas, 1999). As sev-
eral crosses are being imported by UK millers, the
British Government is now designing its own
de®nitions of Basmati and the varieties that
constitute its family tree.
The patent scenario
Recently, Austin, Texas-based Rice-Tec-Inc has
been granted a patent by the US government
for new hybrid strains from Basmati parents,
these are supposedly similar to or even superior
to traditional Basmati and registered under the
trademarks `Texmati', `Kasmati' and `Jasmati'.
Speci®cally, one aspect of the invention relates to
Non-Basmati varieties
Quantity (´106 kg) Approx. value (in millions of US$)
4540.70 1102.58
1989.04 538.73
1721.80 415.94
International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2002, 37, 1±12
10 Basmati rice: a review P. Bhattacharjee et al.
novel rice lines whose plants are semi-dwarf in
stature, substantially photoperiod insensitive and
high yielding, and produce rice grains having
characteristics similar or superior to those of good
quality Basmati rice (Sarreal et al., 1997). The US
patent number 5663484 granted on 2 September
1997, to Rice-Tec on `Basmati rice lines and
grains', covering both product and process, is
quite exhaustive. Rice-Tec makes a total of twenty
claims, among which is that of reduced starch
content. This could cut down on breakage of
grains and also impart better cooking quality.
Besides, it can be grown in American regions even
with inadequate light (Shastri & Mukherjee, 1998;
Singh, 1998).
These developments led to a controversy, con-
cerning which rice can be labelled `Basmati',
among several interested groups. However, most
of the rice growers had little scienti®c material to
back their claims. Methods that can distinguish
genuine Indian/Pakistani cultivars from the US
counterparts are therefore desirable, and would
need to be developed. In the light of these facts,
DNA tests or ®ngerprinting is of immense value.
Use of short chain repeat polymorphisms utilizing
white milled or brown rice samples have been
shown to distinguish very closely related US long-
grain cultivars (Bligh et al., 1999). Signi®cantly,
`Texmati' has failed to display the necessary
genetic structure as revealed by the DNA test
conducted by Britain (Srinivas, 1999). These tests
can also authenticate superior quality Basmati
varieties such as `Kernal', which has been avail-
able in the international market since 1999 at
competitive prices (Manjeshwar, 1999).
Physical methods such as image analysis and
chemical analysis of aromatic compounds from
rice cooking water are known to be useful for
authentication of Basmati rice, but have a large
uncertainty because of their complexity and time-
consuming nature (Bligh, 2000).
Adulteration of Basmati
Adulteration of the highly priced, ¯avourful Bas-
mati rice with such cheaper varieties like Pusa-169,
Improved Sabarmati, PR-106, Kali-much, Lakra,
Saket-4 and Parimal is possible (Vaingankar &
Kulkarni, 1986). Of these adulterants, Improved
Sabarmati and Kalimuch possess mild scent,
International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2002, 37, 1±12
which is not as strong as Basmati. Among
various cooking quality parameters studied, dif-
ferential l/b ratio was found to be a reliable
indicator of adulteration of Basmati rice with
Improved Sabarmati, Pusa-169, PR-106, Kali-
much, Lakra and Parimal, which are frequently
used for adulteration. A minimum value of l/b
ratio of 3.92 ‹ 0.09 to 4.09 ‹ 0.09 was found to
be indicative of pure Basmati-370 (Vaingankar &
Kulkarni, 1989). The other cooking quality
parameters, viz., apparent water uptake and loss
of solids in the cooking gruel for pure Basmati-
370, pure adulterant and their admixtures did not
seem to hold any promise as indicators of
adulteration as no consistent behaviour was
observed for these parameters. Work in this area
using sensitive analytical techniques is seriously
warranted.
The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is very
useful for analytical purposes, and could detect
adulteration in Basmati rice. Similarly, techniques
such as short chain repeat polymorphisms that
have been studied for mapping the rice genome
(Chen et al., 1997) and for identi®cation of rice
accessions (Yang et al., 1994) could be helpful in
detecting such fraudulent practices. In a very
interesting report, Bligh (2000) has used ¯uores-
cent simple sequence length polymorphisms
between Basmati rice cultivars and likely adulter-
ants with moderate success. While the method
could detect the adulterants qualitatively, quanti-
®cation of the adulterant was not realistic. The
method gave some variations because of factors
such as age of the grain and the degree of milling.
Further, the amount of DNA extractable needs to
be considered. Re®ning of the analytical protocol
developed in this study could yield greater accu-
racy in detecting adulteration by this method.
Very recently, scientists at the Centre for DNA
®ngerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), Hydera-
bad have developed a DNA marker technology
that would authenticate Basmati rice, and certify it
for export as well as for domestic consumption.
Using as many as forty-three DNA markers, the
genetic pro®le of Basmati rice originating from
di€erent countries have been studied. This tech-
nique can determine whether the Basmati variety
is pure, evolved, or a mixture of both. It can also
detect adulteration of pure Basmati rice at levels as
low as 1% (Anonymous, 2001).
Ó 2002 Blackwell Science Ltd
 Basmati rice: a review P. Bhattacharjee et al. 11

Conclusion Chen, X., Temnykh, S., Xu, Y. et al. (1997). Development

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