Black rice nutrition per 100g: calories, protein, fibre and GI

The table below gives black rice nutrition per 100 g of raw grain, with white sona masoori rice and brown rice beside it for context. The black column comes from a USDA FoodData Central record, because the Indian Food Composition Tables (IFCT 2017) hold no black-rice entry; the other two columns are IFCT 2017 values, raw milled rice standing in for everyday white rice. Per 100 g, black rice lists 370 kcal, 7.57 g of protein, 3.44 g of fat, 77.2 g of carbohydrate and 4.2 g of fibre.

Three reading notes. First, these are raw values: cooked rice takes up water and weighs far more than the grain that went in, so a per-100 g cooked figure on a calorie app looks much lower, and the katori section below does the honest arithmetic. Second, black rice is sold unpolished, and polishing is what costs a rice part of its bran; the guidelines group highly polished rice among the cereals that lose some fibre in milling. Third, a pack label may carry its own analysis and differ slightly from these USDA and IFCT values.

Per 100 g raw, edible portion. Composition: USDA FoodData Central (Foundation), FDC ID 2710825, NDB 100349; IFCT 2017 (ICMR-NIN). GI: University of Sydney GI database. — means not reported. These are average values for the food; the label on a pack gives the values for that product.

Nobody sits down to 100 g of raw grain. Start with the portion: a katori of cooked black rice is made from about 40 g of raw rice, and that 40 g carries about 148 kcal, 31 g of carbohydrate, 1.7 g of fibre, 3 g of protein and 1.4 g of fat. A second katori brings the carbohydrate to about 62 g and the energy to about 296 kcal; the GI number stays where it was, but the plate does not. Salt and the water the grain absorbs add nothing to these counts. How the grain cooks, and where it comes from, is on the black rice hub.

Does black rice have protein? Yes — 7.57 g per 100 g — but the family has stronger carriers: white rice lists 7.94 g and brown rice 9.16 g, so black rice is not the protein leader of the shelf. It is cereal protein either way, and the Dietary Guidelines for Indians explain the pairing that completes it: pulses carry more lysine than cereals do, and a cereal-pulse mix of 3:1 (raw weight) can meet the need for all the essential amino acids. A katori of black rice with dal beside it is therefore the sensible shape of the meal.

On fibre the two whole grains stand together. Black rice has 4.2 g per 100 g, about one-and-a-half times white rice's 2.81 g, and brown rice edges it at 4.43 g. The same guidelines say what dietary fibre does: it delays the absorption of carbohydrates and fats, increases the satiety value and adds stool bulk. Fat is black rice's widest gap — 3.44 g against 0.52 g in white rice and 1.24 g in brown — still modest beside the oil or ghee a meal adds, and a 2019 Food Chemistry review lists functional lipids among the grain's components, along with anthocyanins, phenolic compounds, dietary fibre, vitamins and minerals. The white-rice comparison in full sits on black rice vs white rice.

The glycemic index of black rice needs the full story, not one number. The University of Sydney GI database holds three tests of plain cooked black rice: the Indonesian black Adan variety scored 64, and a Chinese black waxy rice, pre-soaked and steamed, scored 100 after 30 minutes and 109 after 60. Averaged, the three come to 91. On the database's own scale, 55 or below counts as low and 70 or above as high, so the tested grain lands in the high band — and none of the three tests was run in India.

The spread is the point. Forty-five points separate 64 from 109, all of it variety and cooking method, and a 2023 Foods review makes the general case: for rice, GI varies with the variety, nutrient compositions, processing and accompanying factors. The 2021 international GI tables likewise note that cereals, whole-grain versions included, show wide variation in GI. A GI test itself feeds ten or more volunteers a portion holding 50 g of available carbohydrate and follows the two-hour glucose response, so the figure describes the tested grain, not your plate. For contrast, brown rice carries one India-tested figure, 58, in the medium band; the India-tested family is laid out on low GI rice in India, and what each nutrient does for you is in the full list of black rice benefits and side effects.

The mineral column is where black rice separates itself. Magnesium leads: 113 mg per 100 g, close to six times white rice's 19.3 mg and a fifth above brown rice's 93.91 mg. Potassium is 256 mg, more than double white rice's 108 mg, with brown rice at 199 mg. Iron runs 1.12 mg against 0.65 mg and 1.02 mg, zinc 1.72 mg against 1.21 mg and 1.68 mg, and calcium 14 mg against 7.49 mg and 10.93 mg. Sodium is listed as zero, so the grain brings no salt of its own; the salt in the pot is the salt in the meal.

Two cells stay empty on purpose: the USDA record carries no value for folate or vitamin C in the raw grain, so do not read the dark colour as a vitamin claim — the colour is anthocyanin pigment, which the USDA record does not measure. One kitchen note from the guidelines closes the section: foods should be washed well, but not repeatedly, before cooking, to remove pesticide residues and other extraneous material.

Cooked black rice weighs far more than the raw grain it came from, with the same energy and nutrients spread over the extra weight; count the dry grain and read the table against that. What the table cannot show is the pigment: a 2019 Food Chemistry review lists anthocyanins among black rice's components, but the USDA record measures none of them. For diabetes, the GI of 91 and the 31 g of carbohydrate in a katori are the numbers that matter, and they are worked into a plate on black rice for diabetes; the wider shelf, from kolam to indrayani, is mapped on types of rice in India.

How much protein in black rice?

7.57 g per 100 g of raw grain, which is the USDA record's figure. A katori, made from about 40 g of raw rice, comes to about 3 g. White rice sits close at 7.94 g and brown rice higher at 9.16 g, so black rice is not the protein leader of the family; pair it with dal, and the 3:1 cereal-pulse mix the guidelines describe can meet the meal's need for all the essential amino acids.

Is black rice high in calories?

Not by the family's standards: 370 kcal per 100 g of raw grain, beside white rice's 357 kcal and brown rice's 354 kcal. A katori of cooked black rice, made from about 40 g of raw grain, carries about 148 kcal. Cooked rice is mostly water, so the number of katoris — not the colour — decides the day's total.

Does black rice have carbs?

Yes, 77.2 g per 100 g of raw grain, a whisker below white rice's 78.24 g and above brown rice's 74.80 g. A katori (about 40 g raw) holds about 31 g of carbohydrate, so portion it like any rice: one katori at the grain slot, dal and vegetables beside it.

What is glycemic index of black rice?

Three tests of plain cooked black rice sit in the database: an Indonesian black rice at 64 and a Chinese waxy rice, steamed for 30 and 60 minutes, at 100 and 109. The mean is 91, the high band, and none of the tests is Indian. The 45-point spread shows how much variety and cooking move the figure.

Can black rice be eaten daily?

It can, as a measured katori (about 40 g raw, about 148 kcal) that takes the grain slot in the meal. The guidelines ask that at least half of each day's cereals be whole grains, and unpolished black rice counts toward that half; let basmati, brown rice and red rice share the week rather than one grain taking every meal.