REVIEW article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Nutrition and Food Science Technology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1705983
This article is part of the Research TopicHealth Effects of Natural Compounds from PlantsView all 18 articles
Black Rice as the emerging Functional Food: Bioactive Compounds, Therapeutic Potential and Industrial Applications
Provisionally accepted
Mavra Javed1
Jawaria Jawid2Saira Zafar3
Abdul Momin Rizwan Ahmad4*Syed Hassan Bin Usman Shah5
Umar Farooq2*Juweria Abid2*- 1Michigan State University, East Lansing, United States
- 2National University of Medical Sciences, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
- 3Health Services Academy, Islamabad, Pakistan
- 4University of York, York, United Kingdom
- 5University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia
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It is now widely understood that black rice, also known as Oryza sativa L., is a functional food and a nutritional powerhouse. In the past, it was known as forbidden rice. The current analytical viewpoints on recent breakthroughs in black rice research are investigated in this review paper. Topics covered include the bioactive chemicals of black rice, its potential therapeutic applications, and its applications in the food business. The fact that black rice includes bioactive compounds that have antioxidants, cardiovascular preventative properties, and anti-diabetic effects has been proven through clinical and metabolomic research. Additionally, this study addresses recent innovations in the gluten-free sector and packaging, as well as showing how processing methods influence bioactive substances. It is anticipated that the global market for black rice would be worth USD 15.14 billion by the year 2030. This reflects the growing demand among consumers for nutrient-dense superfoods. Taking this into consideration, there is a need for additional investigation into the true potential of black rice in the food and wellness business. This is necessary to ensure that this superfood may be utilized to the fullest extent of its potential in the future.
Keywords: Black rice, Functional Food, bioactive compounds, Therapeutic potential, Industrial applications, Anthocyanins, phenolic acids, Carotenoids
Received: 15 Sep 2025; Accepted: 14 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Javed, Jawid, Zafar, Ahmad, Shah, Farooq and Abid. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Abdul Momin Rizwan Ahmad, abdul.momin@york.ac.uk
Umar Farooq, umar.farooq@numspak.edu.pk
Juweria Abid, juweria.abid@numspak.edu.pk
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.