It is dark purple in colour, high in protein and antioxidants, and you may have tasted it in a takeaway burrito or sushi roll.
Black rice, also called purple rice, was considered so valuable in ancient China that it was forbidden for all but royalty.
Today, black rice is growing in popularity around the world for its mild, nutty flavour, chewy texture, and nutritional benefits.
And it's likely you'll be seeing a lot more of this trending superfood in future after Australia's first commercial crop of the grain was harvested in Far North Queensland last month.
According to practising dietician Natalie Thompson, it was a sign of the growing demand for alternative grains in the diet of health-conscious Australians.
"The high content of antioxidants such as anthocyanins and the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin are beneficial because antioxidants are known to support eye health, heart health, and protect against some cancers.
"Black rice is a good source of fibre and iron and also contains 2 grams of extra protein compared with brown rice, so that's great for muscle mass, satiety, feeling fuller for longer, and feeling like you've got more energy."
Ms Thompson said, to add an exotic flair to any rice dish, home chefs could simply cook black rice in boiling water for around 30 to 35 minutes.
However, consumers can expect to pay a premium price for the royal rice, with a common brand of black rice going for $7.00 per kilogram at supermarkets compared with $3.00 per kilogram for medium-grain white rice.
Growers back the black rice trend
The premium price of black rice has caught the eye of sugarcane farmers in Australia's tropical north Queensland who are looking to supplement their income.
According to a 2019 ABARES report, Australians consume about 300,000 tonnes of rice every year and about half of this volume typically comes from overseas.
Cairns agronomist Tony Matchett saw the potential for more Australian-grown rice and had been the brains trust behind Australia's first commercial black rice crop harvested last month in Cairns.
Mr Matchett was so confident of the niche industry that he invested in equipment to process the rice and had lined up buyers.
"And we've now got enough planting seed for the next crop to plant about 300 or 400 hectares.
"And if we take a conservative yield of 3 to 4 tonnes per hectare, that really then gives us ample volumes to do some good market access tests with a range of buyers, and then plenty of seed to really scale up to meet demand."
Mr Matchett said there was a growing demand from Australian food manufacturers who were seeking locally grown produce due to rising import costs and unreliability over the past two years.
"Our estimate at the moment is that in terms of imported black rice, it's probably somewhere around 3,000 tonnes," he said.
"So up here, as a rain-fed crop, we need in the vicinity of more than 1,000 hectares to even start to supply domestic markets, but the global trade is where we can really see an opportunity.
"Growers all along the tropical coast, down into the Burdekin region, have shown interest to partner with us to start increasing our production of locally grown and processed black rice."
First harvest promising despite dry summer
The Piccolo family has grown sugar cane near tropical Cairns for many years and was first enticed to grow black rice by Mr Matchett as a rotation in their fallow cane paddocks.
Charlie Piccolo said it had been a learning curve, but the superfood showed promise.
"We started growing long-grain white rice for Sunrice, then we were doing mung beans as well in the rotation," he said.
"And then [Tony Matchett] came across a black rice variety, and we trialled it at home and grew 6 hectares, and it went pretty well, so we got seed from that and went on from there."
Mr Piccolo harvested the 17-tonne crop over two days last month.
In a good season, he expected the crop to yield up to 5 or 6 tonnes per hectare, but this summer was not wet enough.
"We got a couple of weeks of dry weather, which has stunted the growth of it and stopped it from filling," he said.
"So we've got something out of it, but not as good as it should be."
Undeterred, Mr Piccolo said he would definitely continue with the crop as its premium price made it worthwhile.
