Accelerated ageing of paddy and its effect on paddy milling characteristics and physico-chemical and textural properties of milled rice

Abstract

In Indian subcontinent as well as in some Asian countries, naturally aged rice is generally preferred. Natural ageing is done by storing harvested paddy for at least 4-6 months to 2 years. Accelerated ageing is an artificial technique that induces ageing effect in the rice within a short period of time. In this study one of the many such techniques was employed for accelerated ageing of paddy. Hydrothermal treatments were imposed on paddy i.e., soaked in water @ room temperature of 28 °C for 2 min, steamed at three pressures (0.0, 0.5 and 1.0 kg/cm2 gauge) for 5 - 15 min, dried to 14% moisture in shade and then milled in order to study milling, physico-chemical and textural characteristics of rice. Among all the treatments studied, paddy @18% initial moisture, exposed to wet steaming of 0.5 kg/cm2 for 10 min was found to be best for accelerated ageing of paddy.