A differential scanning calorimetric study was done on raw and parboiled rice to determine the degree of gelatinization. Unparboiled rice absorbed the highest amount of endothermic heat, the enthalpy change gradually decreasing with increasing hot soaking time. The highest degree of gelatinization was achieved when the paddy was soaked for 120 min at 80 °C. With increasing degree of gelatinization, the yield point in a compression test also increased. During the parboiling process internal fissures were healed, resulting in higher head rice yield during milling.

This study investigated the effect of soaking time on the quality of parboiled rice. The paddy was soaked in water at 25 and 80 °C for 15, 30, 45, 60 and 120 min. The soaked paddy was steamed, dried, stored and milled. With increasing soaking time a significant increase in water absorption and milling and head rice yield (hence reduction in broken rice) was observed. A significant difference in milling yield, at the 1% level, was obtained between the raw rice control and the hot soaked parboiled samples. A large reduction in fissured grain was observed after soaking. It is suggested that parboiling fills the void spaces and cements the cracks inside the endosperm, making the grain harder and minimizing internal fissuring and thereby breakage during milling.