{"id":25522,"date":"2026-11-11T16:58:13","date_gmt":"2026-11-11T09:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tibdglobal.com\/?p=25522"},"modified":"2026-11-11T16:58:13","modified_gmt":"2026-11-11T09:58:13","slug":"what-is-rainbow-rice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tibdglobal.com\/en\/what-is-rainbow-rice\/","title":{"rendered":"What Is Rainbow Rice? From the Pink-Leaf Rice of Thai Breeders to a Raw Material from Rice Leaves"},"content":{"rendered":"

A rice field where the plants have pink, purple, white and green leaves arranged in patterns may look like a computer-generated image. But this rice really exists in Thailand. It is called Rainbow Rice (Khao Sanpasi)<\/strong>, a breeding achievement of the Rice Science Center, Kasetsart University.<\/p>\r\n

Rainbow Rice became widely known when an image of it appeared on the cover of the journal Nature Food in May 2020. It was later planted in patterned fields for agritourism in several areas. For industry, though, what matters more than its beauty is the coloured rice leaf<\/strong>, which is being developed as a raw material for food and cosmetics.<\/p>\r\n

This article explains what Rainbow Rice is, where it came from, how its lines differ, and why the leaves of this rice are a new opportunity for Thai businesses.<\/p>\r\n

<\/span>Rainbow Rice is rice with colour on its leaves<\/span><\/h2>\r\n

Ordinary rice has green leaves. Rainbow Rice is a group of lines whose leaves are pink or purple, or carry white and green stripes. These colours come from pigments of the anthocyanin<\/strong> group that accumulate in the leaf, together with chlorophyll and carotenoids, which gives each line a different shade.<\/p>\r\n

The Rice Science Center has made Rainbow Rice one of the main targets of its research, under the concepts of Super Nutrient Rice and “the whole rice plant is food” (Whole-plant Food), which hold that the value of the rice plant is not only in the grain.<\/p>\r\n

<\/span>Where Rainbow Rice came from<\/span><\/h2>\r\n

Rainbow Rice is the work of the breeding team at the Rice Science Center, Kasetsart University, Kamphaeng Saen campus, led by Prof. Dr. Apichart Vanavichit<\/strong>, the variety developer. His team is known for discovering the fragrance gene of jasmine rice and for developing Riceberry rice.<\/p>\r\n

<\/span>From a white-leaf mutant to pink-leaf rice<\/span><\/h3>\r\n

According to the Rice Science Center, Rainbow Rice comes from crossing two groups of rice:<\/p>\r\n

  1. A white-leaf mutant of Jao Hom Nin rice<\/strong>, found in the rice mutant library that the center created by irradiating Jao Hom Nin seeds<\/li>
  2. Kam Hom Nin rice<\/strong>, a rice that is purple through the whole plant, which is itself a cross between Kam Doi Saket rice and Jao Hom Nin rice<\/li><\/ol>\r\n

    The center began crossing in 2010 and continued selection over many generations, arriving at five Rainbow Rice lines in 2015\u20132016. All of them were obtained through crossing and line selection<\/strong>, not genetic modification. This matches the Nature Food cover caption, which states that Rainbow Rice was “created through conventional breeding”.<\/p>\r\n

    <\/span>It started as ornamental rice<\/span><\/h3>\r\n

    At first, Rainbow Rice was selected for its appearance, shade, pattern and leaf shape, to suit ornamental use. Prof. Dr. Apichart described the origin of the name this way:<\/p>\r\n

    “Our breeders crossed the white-striped Jao Hom Nin with a rice that is purple through the whole plant \u2026 selected for form, shade, pattern and leaf shape to suit ornamental use, and named it “Khao Sanpasi” (Rainbow Rice).”<\/p>

    Interview with the Kaset Tham Kin website, 10 January 2020 (in Thai)<\/p><\/blockquote>\r\n

    Later, the research expanded from beauty to the value of the leaf: as food, as a raw material, and as a tool for reducing burning in rice fields.<\/p>\r\n

    <\/span>How the five Rainbow Rice lines differ<\/span><\/h2>\r\n

    The Rice Science Center divides Rainbow Rice into five lines by leaf colour and plant height.<\/p>\r\n
    Line<\/th>Leaf characteristics<\/th>Plant height<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
    Rainbow Rice 01<\/td>Ruby-pink leaves<\/td>Tall<\/td><\/tr>
    Rainbow Rice 02<\/td>Ruby-pink leaves<\/td>Short<\/td><\/tr>
    Rainbow Rice 03<\/td>Pink leaves with green and white stripes<\/td>Tall<\/td><\/tr>
    Rainbow Rice 04<\/td>Pink leaves with green and white stripes<\/td>Short<\/td><\/tr>
    Rainbow Rice 05<\/td>White leaves<\/td>\u2013<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\r\n

    According to the Rice Science Center, all five Rainbow Rice lines are in the process of being filed for new plant variety protection (Plant Variety Protection).<\/p>\r\n

    <\/span>Rainbow Rice 02 (RBR02) and raw material work<\/span><\/h3>\r\n

    In the project to develop raw materials from rice leaves, the line used is Rainbow Rice (Khao Sanpasi) RBR02<\/strong>, with ruby-pink leaves on a short plant. The project plans to grow it for leaf harvest in an organic farmer network in Uthai Thani province.<\/p>\r\n

    <\/span>How Rainbow Rice differs from Riceberry and other coloured rice<\/span><\/h2>\r\n

    Many people may confuse Rainbow Rice with the coloured rice sold in shops. The key difference is which part of the rice plant carries the colour<\/strong>.<\/p>\r\n
    <\/th>Ordinary coloured rice, such as Riceberry<\/th>Rainbow Rice<\/th><\/tr><\/thead>
    Part with prominent colour<\/td>Grain<\/td>Leaves and plant<\/td><\/tr>
    Main use<\/td>Grain as food<\/td>Leaves as raw material; plants for ornament and agritourism<\/td><\/tr>
    What farmers sell<\/td>Paddy or milled rice<\/td>Leaves (market in development) alongside grain<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\r\n

    Riceberry is also the work of the same team. The Rice Science Center began crossing Jao Hom Nin rice with Khao Dawk Mali 105 in 2002, eventually producing the deep-purple brown rice now widely known in Thailand. Rainbow Rice therefore builds on the team’s knowledge of coloured rice, moving from the grain to the leaf.<\/p>\r\n

    <\/span>What is in a Rainbow Rice leaf?<\/span><\/h2>\r\n

    Information published by the Rice Science Center and in Prof. Dr. Apichart’s articles indicates that Rainbow Rice leaves have several notable components.<\/p>\r\n