**2. Fragrant rice germplasm and varieties**

Scented rices had been grouped into small, medium and long grained types based on grain length and could be categorized by their scentedness as mild and strong aromatic types. Broadly, the aromatic rice germplasm are grouped into three categories *i.e*. the Basmati, jasmine, and non-basmati/jasmine typed scented rice. The word 'Basmati' has its origin from two Sanskrit roots (vas = aroma) and (mayup = ingrained or present from the beginning) making the word vasmati and it has been pronounced as Basmati in course of time. Of the largest aromatic germplasm maintained at IRRI, about 86 had its root word as Basmati irrespective of grain dimensions and intensity of aroma [12].

A number of non-Basmati scented rices had been considered superior to Basmati in one or more characteristics like flavor, texture, linear elongation ratio on cooking, taste etc. Moreover, many of them can be cultivated under conditions and in areas where Basmati cannot be. Small-grain Bindli, for example, is superior to Basmati in aroma, grain elongation, taste and digestibility (as perceived by the farmers) and it performs well under water-logged conditions. A few such potential candidates could be Kalanamak, Tilakchandan, Sakar-chini and Dhania (U.P.), Ambemohar (Maharastra), Badshahbhog (Bihar and West Bengal), Bindli (waterlogged conditions of U.P.), Chakhao (Manipur), Madhumalti and Mushkan (H.P.), Kon-Joha - 1, Raja Joha and Krishna Joha (Assam), Randhuni Pagal (W.B.), Vishnubhog and Dhubraj (H.P.), Katarani and Sonachur (Bihar) [13]. The small and medium grain aromatic rices could be explored further and improved by selecting short stature, better yielding and early maturing plant types in order to develop varieties to be cultivated in non-traditional areas of basmati cultivation.

*Rice Aroma: Biochemical, Genetics and Molecular Aspects and Its Extraction… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.98913*

The scented rices are mainly cultivated and consumed in India, Pakistan, Thailand, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Indonesia, Iran and United States. Of these, the major exporter of fine-grained fragrant rices includes India, Pakistan and Thailand Major aromatic rices of different states of India were presented in **Table 1** [12].



**Table 1.**

*Zonal classification of scented Rices of different states of India [12].*
