The numerous pots of jambalaya surrounding Tiger Stadium during each home football game may become a lot more colorful this fall.
Tiger fans clad in purple will be able to consume the color in another form – purple rice.
Milton Rush, president of Rush Rice Products and former LSU AgCenter rice pathologist, crossed Cypress rice and Hitan Kitan rice to create the purple-colored concoction.
But Rush didn’t have tailgating in mind 12 years ago when he began developing this, which he named Blanca Isabel after his wife.
Rush said he was working to create a healthier rice variety, and when he combined Cypress and Hitan Kitan, the cross yielded a deep purple color.
“The purple color was an accident but a perfect one. It is the true LSU purple,” Rush said.
The compounds in Blanca Isabel have been recognized as health-enhancing substances due to their antioxidant activity, anti-inflammatory, anticancer, anti-atherogenic and anti-hypoglycemic effects, according to Rush Rice Products’ website.
Agnes M. Rimando, U.S. Department of Agriculture and Agricultural Research Service chemist, researched the Blanca Isabel rice and found a naturally occurring amount of resveratrol, the compound in red wine reported to provide health benefits including anti-cancer activity.