The Hualien District Agricultural Research and Extension Station said it hopes that adding color to rice can help restore the staple to its former popularity in Taiwan.
Although first created at a Hualien County research center a few years ago, center officials said that the colorized rice could then only be produced in limited quantities, which could not meet demand as the technology to produce it was still under development.
Now, the processing technology has been improved, the officials said.
Photo: You Tai-lang, Taipei Times
It is now possible to produce 2 tonnes a day, and plans are underway for mass production, they said.
“It took us seven years of research and development to come up with the technology to color the rice. Our objectives were to raise the consumption of our nation’s home-grown rice, rectify Taiwanese consumers’ changing choices of staple food and entice children to eat rice and for people to have fun when enjoying their bowl of rice,” said Chiu Shu-yuan (邱淑媛), one of the researchers who worked on the colorized rice project at the Crop Improvement Section of Hualien District Agricultural Research and Extension Station under the Council of Agriculture.
“We utilized the natural dyes from fruits and vegetables to produce the yellow, red, green, lavender and other kinds of colorized rice,” she added.
“We were granted a patent on this technology for ‘color coating of rice.’ It will be transferred to the private sector for mass production of 2 tonnes a day, through an exclusive licensing arrangement,” she said.
The dyes for the rice come from natural ingredients, with Monascus anka, or red yeast rice used for red colorized rice, turmeric for yellow, leafy vegetables for green and the antioxidant plant pigment anthocyanidin for lavender.
The researchers said colorized rice could be marketed for daily meals at home, and for creative culinary uses in rice dishes at restaurants, private lodgings and leisure resorts.
They said it could also be developed for special organic or vegetarian menus and as a tourist attraction for Hualien County.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese