Black rice, also known as forbidden rice or purple rice, is a whole grain that’s been consumed in China, Korea, and Japan for centuries. In ancient China, black rice was reserved exclusively for emperors and wealthy people, hence the name “forbidden rice”.

Black rice, also known as purple rice or forbidden rice, is a range of rice types of the species Oryza sativa, some of which are glutinous rice.

Also called forbidden or purple rice, black rice is a type of rice that belongs to the Oryza sativa L. species (1). Black rice gets its signature black-purple color from a pigment called anthocyanin, which has potent antioxidant properties (2).