The African Rice Oryza glaberrima Steud: Knowledge Distribution and Prospects

Abstract

This paper presents a consolidated balance-sheet on the botanical and historical evidence for the role of the cultivated African rice species (Oryza glaberrima Steud) in West and Central Africa as well as its geographical distribution. Because Oryza glaberrima has survived without the help and interference from human, it has developed adaptive and protective mechanisms for resisting major biotic and abiotic stresses. Oryza glaberrima is also very plastic with two major ecotypes: the floating and the non floating, and presents natural hybridization and admixture with its wild parents and the Asian cultivated rice Oryza sativa. Several ecotypes showed good aptitude in response to climatic change effects such as drought, flood, pests and diseases. This review presents several phenotypic diversity aspects on O. glaberrima and highlights its ecological and genetic structuring as well as the management of its diversity. Even if the African rice has undergone less diversification than the Asian rice in their evolutionary process, it presents some interesting assets which are being suggested to exploit through varietal improvement programs.

Diversity, Genetic Erosion and Participatory Evaluation of Rice (Oryza sativa L. and Oryza glaberrima Steud) Varieties in Benin

“…Thus, knowledge of the determinants of varietal diversity can contribute to the development of such strategies. Unfortunately in Benin, very little work has been done on the inventory, collection, characterization, ethnobotanical investigation, evaluation and conservation of rice varieties (Adeyemi and Vodouhè 1996;Akakpo, 2011;Agnoun et al, 2012). We present in this paper the results of an ethnobotanical investigation conducted to:…”

Defining the Overall Quality of Cowpea‐Enriched Rice‐Based Breakfast Cereals

“…This was most likely owing to the formation of compounds (deriving either from starch or from protein degradation) that easily undergo Maillard-type reactions (Chauhan et al 2015). Higher values of the a* and b* indices for glaberrima-based products with respect to sativa-based ones can be ascribed to the peculiar pigmentation of O. glaberrima caryopses (Agnoun et al 2012).…”

“…In summary, sprouted cowpea flour may represent an interesting ingredient for the production of enriched rice-based food, including in the case of rice species of African origin, such as O. glaberrima, that have a limited market for direct consumption (Tomlins et al 2005;Agnoun et al 2012;Asante et al 2013). This study also demonstrates that using sprouted legumes for adding value to rice-based food (in Africa or elsewhere) requires an appropriate evaluation of the interactions between macromolecules in the various starting materials.…”

“…Rice is a primary source of food for more than half of the world population (Gayin et al 2015) and comprises two distinct domesticated species: Oryza sativa (Asian rice) and Oryza glaberrima (African rice). Whereas O. sativa is globally consumed, O. glaberrima is peculiar of the West African subregion (Sweeney and McCouch 2007) and is characterized by specific traits (Gayin et al 2015), such as excellent weed competitiveness and the ability to grow in a wide range of difficult ecosystems (Agnoun et al 2012). For these reasons, O. glaberrima is adopted by many African farmers, despite its low yield and value on the conventional African market, its susceptibility to shattering, and its poor resistance to lodging (Futakuchi et al 2008).…”

Characterization of Selected Rice Varieties Adapted in Africa

“…Natural hybridization and admixture with its wild parents and O. sativa can be found in the African rice cultivated area. There are many varieties showing great performance to abiotic and biotic stresses such as drought, flood, pests and diseases in African rice varieties (Agnoun et al 2012). Nevertheless, Asian rice is rapidly replacing African rice in terms of cultivated area mainly due to low yield potential and high shattering habit of African rice varieties (Jones et al 1997).…”