Japonica rice is the seed kernel of the gramineous plant Japonica rice, and indica rice is rice made from indica-type non-glutinous rice.

Generally speaking, rice is divided into 3 types, which are Japonica, Indica, and Glutinous rice. Japonica and indica rice are what we often eat in our normal life, while glutinous rice is generally used for making desserts because of its high viscosity. What we call long-grain rice is indica rice; round-grain rice is round-grained rice.

Long-grain rice is oval or elongated in shape. Indica rice has a relatively small amount of branched chain starch, the taste is hard, the cooked rice is less sticky, the texture is more fluffy, suitable for making fried rice. Generally produced in China south of the Yangtze River, the common long-grain rice on the market are Thai fragrant rice, Chinese fragrant rice.

Round grain rice, short and round shape, cross-section close to round. Japonica rice has more branched-chain starch, so the cooked rice is softer and more elastic. This kind of rice is suitable for making sushi, rice balls, boiling porridge and so on. Japonica rice is mostly produced in the north of the Yangtze River in China! The crystal rice, northeastern rice, pearl rice on the market are basically japonica rice.

Whether it is indica rice or japonica rice, the nutritional difference between the two is not great, all contain protein, fat, dietary fiber, vitamins, and the human body needs a variety of trace elements! The main difference is that long-grain rice, niacin, selenium content, to be higher than round-grain rice; round-grain rice contains vitamin B2, vitamin E, calcium to be higher than long-grain rice.