Biochemical and Genomic Studies on Medicinal Rice Njavara (Oryza sativa L.)

Rice is one of the most important cereal food crop grown mainly in tropical
and subtropical regions. There are more than two thousand varieties of rice, grown
throughout the world. It is the staple food in South East Asia and accounts for 50 to
80% of daily calorie intake. The Indian traditional medicine (Ayurvedic treatise)
records, the existence of many medicinal rice varieties in India. In Ayurveda, rice is
considered to be acrid, oleaginous, tonic, aphrodisiac, fattening, diuretic and useful in
biliousness. More than 50 traditional rice varieties that possess medicinal properties
were identified in a survey conducted by the Department of Agronomy, Indira Gandhi
Agricultural University, Raipur, India. Varieties like ‘Njavara’ and ‘Gathuran’ are
used for treatment of arthritis, ‘Aalcha’ for pimples, ‘Maharaji’ for strength and
stamina to assist post delivery, ‘Baisoor’ for epilepsy and ‘Laicha’ for pregnant
women to deliver healthy children and also for treatment of skin infection. Most of
these varieties are under cultivation in very restricted areas.
Njavara (Oryza sativa L.) is an endemic rice cultivar of Kerala. It is known as
“sastika” rice as it matures at 60 days. Morphologically, Njavara is similar to any
ordinary rice. The husk is golden yellow to brownish black in colour. Njavara crop
requires less water and can grow in semiarid conditions compared to other rice
varieties. The crop is organically grown. The yield of Njavara is extremely low hence
it is expensive, costing Rs.40-60/kg. It is used mainly in ayurvedic preparations. The
medicinal property of Njavara is believed to be due to the high content of amino acid
methionine, though this has not been proven scientifically.
Njavara rice is bestowed with many medicinal properties. It used mainly in
Ayurvedic preparations and gives exceptionally high energy. It is used to treat
disorders like muscle wasting, rheumatic complaints and cervical spondylitis. Njavara
is usually used in external application as Njavara kizhi, a type of “warm sweating”
treatment and as Njavara theppu, an another treatment where the body is covered with
hot paste of Njavara cooked rice. Regular massage with a special rub prepared with
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pounded Njavara, Piper longum, coconut and gingili oil mixed with milk is reported
to strengthen muscles of polio and paralysis affected patients.
However, there is no scientific data on the nutritional and medicinal properties
of Njavara rice and its application in ayurvedic treatments. The main objective of this
study is to explore the bioactive molecules, their biological activity and genomic
studies on Njavara.