A new study conducted by a team of scientists from Cornell University in the US and International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines, has concluded that Basmati rice does not fall under Indica subgroup of rice varieties grown in southern Asia but to the Japonica subgroup, grown mostly in Japan.

More important, they claim to have shown for the first time that fragrance in rice originated within the Japonica group and the trait was then transferred to Indica rice by a natural process called 'introgression'.

Their results that challenge the traditional assumption that the fragrance trait arose in the Indica group have been published in the latest issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the US.

Cultivated rice plant (Oryza sativa) consists of two subspecies, Japonica and Indica. Japonica rice is round and sticky when cooked, while Indica rice has long grains that get fluffy on cooking.