Rice

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Rice, plant that produces an edible grain; the name is also used for the grain itself. Rice is the primary food for half the people in the world. In many regions it is eaten with every meal and provides more calories than any other single food.

A kernel or grain of rice is a seed that contains an embryonic rice plant. The hull, a hard protective covering, surrounds the bran, which consists of layers of fibrous tissue that contain protein, vitamins, minerals, and oil. Beneath the bran is the endosperm, which makes up most of the rice grain. The endosperm contains starch, the energy source used by the germinating seed. The bran and endosperm are the edible portions of the grain.

A rice plant, a type of grass, has narrow, tapered leaves and grows from about 60 to 180 cm (about 2 to 6 ft) tall. Several flower stalks emerge from the plant, and in most varieties, a loose cluster of branching stems, called a panicle, radiates from the top of each stalk with small green flowers hanging from each stem. When the grain has developed, the panicle droops under the weight of the ripened kernels. Depending on the variety, one panicle provides about two handfuls of rice.

Scientific classification: Rice is an annual grass in the grass family, Poaceae (formerly Gramineae). Asian rice is classified as Oryza sativa and African rice as Oryza glaberrima.

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