Rice Cooking Quality and Physico-Chemical Characteristics: a Comparative Analysis of Selected Local and Newly Introduced Rice Varieties in Ebonyi State, Nigeria

Abstract

The Choice of rice varieties by farmers and consumers and the rate at which farmers in Ebonyi state go for new rice varieties at the expense of indigenous varieties have become a source of worry to scientists in Nigeria. We assessed the cooking quality and physico-chemical characteristics of 15 selected indigenous and five newly introduced hybrid rice varieties grown in Ebonyi State, Nigeria. Significant variation (P<0.05) was detected among the 20 rice varieties for all the traits evaluated. The results showed that all the five newly introduced hybrid rice varieties do not swell appreciably during cooking. The grains of Cv."China" had the highest elongation values of 3.2 ± 0.00 mm. "E4197" has the best physical appearance but easily dissolves in water during cooking. Most of the physico-chemical characteristic such as amylose, amylopectin, gel consistency and gelatinization temperature were significantly correlated (positively or negatively) with some of the cooking quality traits (elongation during cooking, solids in cooking water and optimum cooking time), indicating that efforts aimed at selecting rice varieties with improved cooking quality traits would warrant a consideration of the physico-chemical attributes of the rice grain. The overall cooking quality and physico-chemical attributes of some of the indigenous rice varieties were even relatively better than the newly introduced hybrid varieties. Farmers should, therefore, be critical in accepting new varieties that may not be comparably outstanding in cooking quality and physico-chemical characteristics, in order to preserve the integrity of the all-cherished indigenous rice varieties of Ebonyi State, Nigeria.

Evaluation of physical, milling and cooking properties of four new rice (Oryza sativa L.) varieties in Nigeria

“…This could be attributed to their gelatinization temperature since gelatinization temperature contributes directly to the cooking time of rice. Water uptake ratio obtained for the rice varieties were comparable with the values reported by Oko and Ubi (2012) and Frei, Siddhuraju, and Becker (2003). FARO 61 had the highest of water uptake ratio value.…”

“…where WUR is water uptake ratio, WCR is the weight of cooked rice (g) and WUCR is the weight of uncooked rice (g). Similar method was reported by Oko and Ubi (2012).…”

Cooking and functional properties of parboiled milled local rice marketed in the south-east zone of Nigeria

“…The SLIW of a large percentage (88.89 %) of the domestic rice varieties were minimal (0.03-0.13 %). This result was similar to values IJFS October 2020 Volume 9 pages 319-331 reported by Yadav et al (2007) for gruel solid losses of 0.025-0.52 g. Oko et al (2012) also reported solids in cooking water of 0.01-0.95 g while Thomas et al (2013) reported gruel solid loss of 0.03-0.06 g. The minimal values obtained for SLIW showed that there is less tendency of the grains to cling together when cooked. The imported rice varieties had the highest VWA (26.00-27.67 ml) compared to a local rice (25.33 ml).…”

“…The minimum cooking time for all the rice varieties ranged from 15-43.33 minutes and the optimum cooking time ranged from 17-45.33 minutes. This is within the ranges reported by Thomas et al (2013) and Oko et al (2012). The extra-long and long grains cooked for a shorter time (17-38.67 minutes) compared to the medium grains, Kpurukpuru and Ghesua, that cooked for 40 and 45.33 minutes respectively which were also of intermediate and high amylose content respectively.…”

Effect of Storage Duration and Processing Parameters on Some Cooking Properties of Ofada Rice

“…Amylose content is significantly affected by the various storage intervals and treatments. Rice varieties with amylose content of more than 25% absorb more water and have a fluffy texture after cooking (Oko et al, 2012).…”