“…The main advantages of steaming is that the time to complete the whole process is relatively short, increasing the plant turnover (Bhattacharya, 1985). However the application of high temperatures above gelatinization temperature increase the cost of parboiling equipment and downgrades the quality of parboiled rice in terms of hydration and cooking characteristics (Pillaiyar & Mohandoss, 1981), tenderness and colour (Pillaiyar, 1984) and yellowness of the grain (Fellers & Deissinger, 1983 gelatinization of starch in paddy can be achieved even at temperatures lower than 100°C, gelatinization temperature for world rices ranges from 55 to 79°C, several authors have been developing alternative parboiling techniques involving lower temperature (Pillaiyar & Mohandoss, 1981;Pillaiyar, Sabarathinam, Subramaniyan, & Sulochana, 1996;Unnikrishnan, Viraktamath, Krishnamurthy, & Bhattacharya, 1982).…”