Annapurna grows a white rice – CO43, which is an improved variety developed by Tamil Nadu Agricultural University in early 80s. This variety is not season bound and is saline-alkaline soil tolerant thus suits better with our current growing conditions and cultivation techniques. However to preserve the nutritional values of the rice we process this variety into “parboiled”, unpolished rice. 

Parboiled rice is rice that has been partially boiled in the husk. The three basic steps of parboiling are soaking, steaming and drying. These steps make the rice easier to process at the granary while also boosting its nutritional profile, changing its texture, and making it more resistant to weevils during the storage. 

Parboiling drives nutrients, especially thiamin, from the bran to the endosperm, hence parboiled white rice is mostly nutritionally similar to brown rice. Parboiled rice takes less time to cook and is firmer and less sticky. Compared to brown rice, parboiling of rice incurs losses of thiamin, niacin, biotin, and pantothenic acid by approximately 70%, 28%, 49% and 25%, respectively. Compared to normal milling, which causes a near 65% loss of all these micronutrients, parboiling preserves more of them. At Annapurna, we parboil rice in small batches as per demand to supply it fresh.