The content of anthocyanin, cyanidin 3-glucoside (C3G) and the peonidin 3-glucoside (P3G) from 591 rice cultivars and the antioxidative activities of MeOH extract from 8 rice cultivars were evaluated. Among them, C3G content of pigmented rice were ranged from 0 to 451.9mg in 100 g brown rice, while the P3G contents were in the range from 0 to 42.7mg in 100g brown rice. There was no correlation between C3G and P3G content. Total anthocyanin content ranged from 0 to 475.1mg in 100g brown rice. The antioxidative activity, the scavenging activity on DPPH (2,2-diphenyl-picryl-hydrazyl) radical of MeOH extracts from rice grain, were different according to cultivars. The activity of blockish purple pericarp rice cultivars was twice stronger than that of white pericarp cultivar. Especially, the antioxidative activity of Heugjinjubyeo was four times stronger than that of white pericarp cultivar. The scavenging effect on DPPH radical in rice extracts was related to the total anthocyanin contents of the extracts.

The cyanidin 3-glucoside (C3G) extracted from pigmented rice seeds in 0.5% TFA (Trifluoro acetic acid) -95% ethanol was separated by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). A HPLC system using a Develosil ODS-5 column and 0.1 % TFA-H2O ～0.1 % TFA-CH3CN gradient elution was selected for separation and quantitative determination of C3G. Regression equation obtained for the standard content of C3G pigment was as Y=21.95293* X-14.726771 (r=0.99** ). Using this method, 326 domestic and introduced collections were evaluated for the C3G content. The Korean bred cultivar 'Heugjinjubyeo', showed highest C3G content (552 mg/100g seed) among the tested cultivars. Among the pigmented rice cultivars ten cultivars were selected for containing a high content of C3G. The content of C3G per 100g seeds was in high order as follows: Heugjinjubyeo (552mg)>Cheng Chang (321mg)>Kilimgeugmi (240mg)>PI160979-2 (224mg)>Hong Shei Lo (221mg)>Heugnambyeo (191 mg)>Mitak =PIl60979-1 (186mg)>Suwon425 (163mg)>Sanghaehyanghyeolla (108mg). The C3G pigment was not detected in the common white rice cultivars.