Abstract
Wild rice (Zizania sp.) is an annual cross-pollinated, emergent, aquatic grass that mainly grows naturally in the Great Lakes region of North America. The nutritional quality attributes of wild rice are superior to the conventional brown rice (Oryza sativa L.) in terms of higher contents of important minerals (especially phosphorous, potassium, magnesium and calcium), B-complex vitamins, vitamin E and amino acids. In addition, wild rice is reported to contain an appreciable amount of valuable compounds such as phenolics with antioxidant properties. The presence of such nutritionally bioactive substances contributes towards medicinal benefits and multiple biological activities of this specialty rice. The present review is mainly designed to focus on the detailed nutritional attributes, high-value bioactive components profile and medicinal/biological activities of wild rice, thus proposing to explore the functional food and nutraceutical potential of this food commodity.