Background and objectives
Parboiled rice is an important commodity, and its properties are affected by parboiling conditions and feedstock properties. This study investigated the impact of cultivar and aging on parboiled rice properties under different parboiling conditions.
Findings
Regardless of parboiling conditions, cultivar with greater protein content had greater milling yields and cooked rice hardness, and lower deformed kernels and water absorption than low protein content cultivar. Deformed kernel had shown that aging effect was more significant on low protein content cultivar. Cultivar was the most important factor affecting parboiled rice properties and followed closely by soaking and steaming temperatures. Aging accounted for more than 10% of the total variance, and aging generally resulted in increased cooked rice hardness, and decreased deformed kernels, whiteness, pasting viscosities, and soluble solids.
Conclusions
Parboiled rice prepared from freshly harvested and aged rice displayed different properties. Cultivar with a greater protein content showed to have better protection against severe parboiling condition while preserving desired properties. Aging effect was more evident for rice of a low protein content. Even under different parboiling conditions, parboiled fresh‐harvested and aged rice still resulted in different properties.
Significance and novelty
The present study suggests the importance of protein content in the cultivar effect and its impact on aging effect.