Brown rice /”hulled rice” / un-milled rice / partly milled rice is a kind of whole and natural grain. It has a mild nutty flavor and is chewier and more nutritious than the white rice. It also gets spoiled more quickly than white rice because of the germ, which contains fats that can get spoiled easily.

Any rice, including long-grain, short-grain and sticky rice may be eaten as brown rice.

In Asia, brown rice was associated with poverty and war time shortage. In the past brown rice was rarely eaten except by the poor, the sick, and the elderly. But now it is more expensive than white rice, due to its relatively low supply and difficulty of storage and transportation.

White rice and Brown rice contain similar amounts of calories and carbohydrates. The main differences between these two lie in the processing and their nutritional content.

When only the husk or the outermost layer of a grain of rice is removed, brown rice is produced. To produce white rice, the bran and the germ, underneath the husk are also removed, leaving behind only the starchy endosperm.

Several vitamins and minerals such as Vitamin B1, B3 and iron are lost while producing the white rice. One cup or 195 g of cooked long grain brown rice contains 84 mg of magnesium while one cup of white rice contains only 19 mg. The beneficial rice bran oil present in the bran layer which helps to lower the LDL cholesterol is also lost.

Brown rice has a shelf life of approximately 6 months. Brown rice soaked in warm water for 20 minutes prior to cooking starts the germination process and makes the food more nutritious. Phytic acid present in the bran may reduce the absorption of minerals by the small intestine.