Valorization of Basmati-370 rice brokens into pregelatinized Basmati rice flour and its characterization studies

Introduction

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a globally significant food crop grown in various countries. Basmati, a unique and aromatic variety amongst all rice cultivars that has been nurtured over many years in the Himalayan foothills of India. Generally, known for its long-grain aromatic properties, distinctive flavor, and delightful soft and smooth fluffy surface. Aroma is the most highly valued characteristic then taste and post-cooking elongation (Bhattacharjee et al., 2002) [11] . Kathua Tehsils in Jammu Division. In Jammu and Kashmir, the total Basmati area is 68,450 ha (Mushtaq et al., 2024) [28] . Broken rice or rice brokens refers to remains of the rice grains usually broken down during milling process. Numerous reasons behind, such as inherited features of different rice types, the growing favourable conditions (elevated temperature and other environmental stresses), as well as management practices during cultivation and after harvest. These brokens are parted from the intact (head) rice and classified into various categories (Phillips et al., 2024) [33] . Broken means fragments of rice grains usually smaller than three-quarters of complete grain (https://consumeraffairs.nic.in) [8] . It is essentially white or polished rice and has composition values very similar to polished rice. Broken rice is available at most times of the year and is sometimes economic (Aftab and Creswell, 2012) [4] . In comparison to whole rice, broken rice possesses a lower profitable cost. In the year 2023, the USDA's loan rate for long-grain whole kernels was $245.8 per metric ton and for broken kernels was $148.6 per metric ton (USDA, 2023) [42] . Furthermore, during the period from 2018 to 2022, India's average exported rate was $297.9 per metric ton for100 percent broken elongated grain, reflecting a decrease of 22.5 percent less than the price of elongated grain milled rice with 5 percent broken, priced at $384.6 per metric ton (FAOSTAT, 2022) [13] . Due to non-availability of technology for its conversion to value added products, it is mostly used in flour form or used as animal feed. Rice is a vital starchy cereal that has a wide range of innovative food items including gluten free breads, snacks, beverages, desserts like puddings, processed meats and salad dressings (Kadan et al., 2008) [18] . Moreover, rice flour has tremendous usage in various extruded food products like noodles and pasta owing to gluten-free desires. A great demand of gluten-free desires creates surplus market for the tremendous usage of rice flour in extruded products. However, raw rice can't be used to process noodles and pasta etc. due to absence of gluten. Owing to its inadequate resistance to shear force; lesser elastic gel production; low viscosity and thickening power while cooking, numerous hydrothermal methods have been effectively employed to improve the physical, chemical and functional characteristics of rice powder/ flour and starch. Pre-gelatinization is a notable physical technique used to alter starch through various combinations of heat treatments. Significantly, this method not only affects the physicochemical but also the functional properties (Lai, 2001) [24] . Notably, pregelatinized flour as a major ingredient is extensively utilized in numerous food products as a bulking or thickening agent. Also, useful in soups and sauces because of its lower tendency to retrogradation (Adebowale and Lawal, 2003) [3] . Novel foods generally require rice flours with well-defined functional attributes, known to affect the physical characteristics of food structures (Kaur M, Singh, 2005) [21] . Although pregelatinized Basmati rice flour holds significant economic value, comprehensive research on its characterization remains inadequate. This research study seeks to address this paucity by illustrating a thorough analysis that is highly relevant to the utilization of Basmati -370 brokens in the production of pre-gelatinized Basmati rice flour.

Materials and Methods

Polished Basmati-370 brokens provided by Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Jammu was used in this study. For pre-gelatinization, polished broken grains were soaked in water in ratio 1:1 at 30 ºC continuously for three hours. Then steeped into hot water bath at altered temperature (60 ºC, 70 ºC and 80 ºC) for completely 30 minutes, later, steam cooking at different timings (5, 10 and 15 minutes). After pre-gelatinization, pregelatinized Basmati brokens were dried in a tray drier (60 °C) up to expected moisture content. Finally, the pregelatinized brokens were ground and converted into rice powder/flour with the help of laboratory scale grinder. The rice flour samples were stored in airtight containers and analyzed for various physical parameters and functional parameters for 3 months storage studies (30 days intervals). Furthermore, microstructure analysis and correlation studies were also observed.

Characterization of pre-gelatinized Basmati rice flour Physical parameters

Color Profile: The Color value (L*, a* and b*) analysis of pregelatinized rice flour was performed by using a Hunter Lab colorimeter (Color Flex Reston VA, USA). The calibration of equipment was done with white and black standard ceramic tiles. In the Hunter's lab colorimeter, sample color is denoted by the three dimensions as L*, a* and b*. L* value represents brightness of the color in the range of values from "0" means black to "100" means white; the higher the values, the brighter will be the color. The value of a* indicates the redness of sample namely "-" means green to "+" means red. The b* value indicates the yellowness of the sample namely "-" means blue to "+" means yellow (Xiaojing et al., 2018) [48] . Water activity (aw): water activity meter (Aqua Lab) was used to measure water activity of the flours at room temperature (25 ℃). The device was equipped with a container that was half-filled with ground sample and positioned into it. Within 3 to 5 minutes, water activity was measured.

Bulk density (g/ml): Bulk density was determined by loading five grams of flour into graduated cylinder (10ml) and the occupied volume was recorded to compute the bulk density.

Bulk density (g/ml) = Mass of powder (g)/Volume (ml)

Functional properties

Swelling power: The swelling power of the flour samples was determined according to Tester and Morrison (1990) method (Tester and Morrison, 1990) [40] . 0.2 gram of sample was taken into a centrifugal tube with 10 mL distilled H2O into it. After that, sample was equilibrated at 25 °C for completely 5 minutes and then placed in a hot-water bath at 95 °C for at least 30 minutes. Then cooled at 20 °C for 1 minute and centrifuged in laboratory centrifuges (SIGMA, Laborzentrifugen, Model 3K30) at 3,500 rpm for 15 minutes for the separation of gel and supernatant. Finally, the gel was weighed up to calculate swelling power and expressed in gram per gram as per formula:

Weight of the wet sediment Swelling power (g/g) = Initial weight of dried sample

Water absorption index:

The Water absorption index of the sample was determined as per literature (Mir and Bosco, 2013) [27] . About 2.5 gram of sample was placed into 30 ml distilled water in pre-weighed 50 ml centrifuge tube, followed by stirring continuously for 30 minutes at 30 °C, later centrifuged in laboratory centrifuges (SIGMA, Laborzentrifugen, Model 3K30) at 3000 rpm for 10 minutes. At last, the supernatant placed into a tarred evaporating dish that was weighed.

Microstructural analysis

The microstructure of rice flour particle was examined by means of scanning electron microscope (SEM) (JEOL, JSM-IT300, Japan) functioned at 10.0 kV. Rice flour sample was mounted on an SEM stub with the help of carbon tape. The disc holding samples was positioned in vacuum sublimator sputter coater, sprayed with platinum. The stub was located on a Scanning electron microscope specimen holder, already pre-frozen by liquid nitrogen and experiential at acceleration voltage 10.0 kV. Later, the images were taken at various magnifications (50x and 250x). ). The influence of treatment, storage period as well as their interaction were found to have significant value.

Statistical analysis

a* value: A review of data in Table 1 showed significant variation in a* value of pregelatinized Basmati rice flour with respect to different treatments and storage time. The a* value increased significantly as compared to control. At zero day of storage, the maximum a* value of 1.14 was recorded in treatment T10 (steeping at 80 °C and steam cooking for 15 minutes) while minimum L* value of 0.57 was recorded in T1 (control). After 90 days storage, a* value decreased significantly from 1.14 to 0.92 in treatment T10 (steeping at 80 °C and steam cooking for 15 minutes) and from 0.57 to 0.28 in treatment T1 (control). It has been observed that the effect of all treatments, storage period and interaction were found to be non-significant. respectively. Treatments, storage period and their interaction were found to have a significant impact during the 90-day storage studies.

Water activity:

The data pertaining to water activity of pregelatinized Basmati rice flour in Table 2 displayed that water activity varied significantly with the treatments as well as storage time. In the beginning of storage, the maximum water activity was perceived as 0.61 in treatment T10 (steeping at 80 °C and steam cooking for 15 minutes) and lowest water activity was observed as 0.49 in treatment T1 (control). During the 90 days of storage period, water activity increased significantly from 0.61 to 0.64 in treatment T10 (steeping at 80 °C and steam cooking for 15 minutes) while 0.49 to 0.54 in treatment T1 (control).

Results revealed the recorded mean water activity value of pregelatinized Basmati rice flour increased throughout 90 days of storage. Furthermore, treatments, storage period and their interaction were found to be non-significant.

Bulk density: Table 2 illustrated the effect of different treatments and storage time on bulk density of pregelatinized Basmati rice flour. Initially the lowest bulk density of 0.925 was recorded in treatment T10 (steeping at 80 °C and steam cooking for 15 minutes) and highest bulk density 1.063 g/ml was recorded in treatment T1 (control).

After the 90 days of storage period, the bulk density decreased from 0.925 to 0.735 g/ml in treatment T10 (steeping at 80 °C and steam cooking for 15 minutes) and from 1.063 to 1.046 in treatment T1 (control). Moreover, the observed mean bulk density value of pregelatinized Basmati rice flour as affected with the applied treatments followed decreasing order. It is evident from the table, significant effect of all treatments and storage interactions was observed with respect to bulk density at 5 per cent level of significance.

Functional properties

Water absorption index: Figure 1.1 showed the influence of various treatments and storage period on water absorption index of pregelatinized Basmati rice flour. Initially, the lowest value of water absorption index was noted as 2.61g/g in treatment T1 (control) and highest water absorption index was recorded as 3.89 g/g in treatment T10 (steeping at 80 °C and steam cooking for 15 minutes). After 90 days of storage period, the water absorption index significantly declined from 3.89 to 3.56 g/g in treatment T10 (steeping at 80 °C and steam cooking for 15 minutes) and from 2.61 to 2.32 g/g in treatment T1 (control).

With the advancement of storage period, significant decrease in water absorption index was noticed. Moreover, it is evident from the figure that significant effect of all treatments and storage interactions was observed with respect to water absorption index at 5 per cent level of significance.

Swelling power: A review of data in figure 1.2 showed significant differences in swelling power of pregelatinized Basmati rice flour with respect to different treatment and storage duration. The swelling power of pregelatinized Basmati rice flour increased significantly as compared to control. At zero day of storage, the maximum swelling power of 7.46 g/g was recorded in treatment T10 (steeping at 80 °C and steam cooking for 15 minutes) and minimum swelling power value of 3.42 g/g was recorded in treatment T1 (control). After 30 days storage, swelling power increased significantly from 3.42 g/g to 3.94 g/g in treatment T1 (control) and 7.46 to 7.66 g/g in treatment T10 (steeping at 80 °C and steam cooking for 15 minutes).

Between 60 to 90 days storage, swelling power of pregelatinized Basmati rice flour decreased from 3.82 to 3.26 g/g in treatment T1 (control) as well as from 7.52 to 7.43 g/g in treatment T10 (steeping at 80 °C and steam cooking for 15 minutes).Also, the impact of treatments, storage period and their interaction were noted as significant.

Microstructure analysis: Microstructure analysis using Scanning Electron microscopy (SEM) was carried out to know the influence of hydrothermal treatment on the microstructure of treated and untreated rice flour particles. Pictures displayed the accumulation of starch granules into particles having smooth cutting apparent. As shown in figures 2.1 and 2.2, the rice starch granules seemed to be densely packed in untreated flour at 50x and 250x magnification. The visible globular or uneven particles fixed to or positioned amid the starch granules, which might be the protein bodies or remains of disrupted protein matrix throughout the milling process. However, the microscopic structure (figures 3.1, 3.2, 4.1, 4.2, 5.1 and 5.2 at 50x and 250x magnification) of treated flours (60 °C, 70 °C and 80 °C) were significantly different to those from untreated flour, where the starch granules were expanded and appears to be partially gelatinized. Our findings clearly indicated the effect of hydrothermal treatment on the morphology of rice flour.

Correlation studies: Correlation studies between physical properties of pregelatinized Basmati rice flour presented in Table 3. The colour L* value showed negative correlation with colour a* (r = -0.73) and colour b* value (r = -0.079). However, it had positive correlation with bulk density (r = 0.89) and negative correlation with water activity (r = -0.93).

The colour a* value had significant positive correlation with colour b* value (r = 0.57), negative correlation with bulk density (r = -0.67) and positive correlation with water activity (r = 0.69). The colour b* value exhibited negative correlation with bulk density (r = -0.86) and positively correlated with water activity (r = 0.85). Also, bulk density value depicted negative correlation with water activity (r = -0.97). ) [19] . Lightness (L*) value is directly associated by level of gelatinization during parboiling method, besides the time period and soaking temperature, heating and drying (Islam et al., 2004) [17] . Also reported that lightness value of parboiled rice declined with increase in soaking temperature (Sareepuang et al., 2008) [34] . On the other side, the mean values a* (redness) and b* (yellowness) values of pregelatinized Basmati rice flour increased significantly among all the different treatments. The increase of a* (redness) and b* (yellowness) values might be due to the Maillard browning in between the reducing sugars from the heated starch, the amino group of the proteins upon high heat processing and due to their modification (Lorlowhakarn and Naivikul, 2006); (Takahashi et al., 2005) [26,39] . The 90 days storage studies of pregelatinized Basmati rice flour showed reduction in mean L*, a* and b* values. A study reported that the colour values decreased with storage time (Ojo et al., 2017) [31] . Additionally, the initiation and progression of various oxidative and Maillard browning reactions all through storage might have reduced brightness of water chestnut flour during storage intervals (Beigh et al., 2019) [10] .

Discussion

Water activity

Water activity of a food product is a measure to know how much of free water or unbound water is available to microorganisms for their survival and growth. For this underlying reason, water activity is a very important concern for food safety. Most of the microorganisms do not breed below water activity (aw) level of 0.90 for most pathogenic bacteria, 0.70 for spoilage molds and 0.60 for all microbes. The lower the water activity of food product, the better will be the food stability (Vesterlund, 2012) [43] . The mean water activity of T1 (control) flour was observed to be 0.49 which is lower when compared with other treatments such as T2 to T10 values in the range of 0.53-0.61. It clearly depicted the effect of pregelatinization that increased the water activity of flour. During storage, the mean value of water activity of pregelatinized Basmati rice flour increased. Due to the hygroscopic nature, water chestnut flour collected moisture which may have raised the water activity over time (Beigh et al., 2019) [10] . Other researchers suggested the susceptibility of foodstuffs to fungal growth depends on various aspects in which water activity and the length of storage are most important (Abdullaha et al., 2000) [1] . They mentioned that ordinary rice and rice flour should be kept at aw of 0.65 whereas glutinous rice flour sustained at a higher aw of 0.75 [26] . Singh and Kaur recommended water activity value 0.423 which was most suitable for baby corn powder to maintain good shelf stability at room temperature (Singh and Kaur, 2019) [36] .

Bulk density

Results revealed that the bulk density of pregelatinized Basmati rice flour was affected with the applied treatments. Similar outcomes were stated by Bhise et al. (2014) [12] who stated that bulk density decreased with the rise in moisture content of grain. The bulk density of rice varied and declined but moisture content increased (Kibar et al., 2010) [22] . Our findings are supported by Kashaninejad who analysed that the bulk density of rice decreased from 678.19 kg/m 3 to 647.10 kg/m 3 at soaking temperature of 25 °C to 40 °C and increased to 702.69 kg/m 3 at soaking temperature of 70 °C (Kashaninejad et al., 2007) [20] . Similarly, they concluded that bulk density of samples (soaked) at every soaking temperatures was lesser than samples prior to soaking (773.72 kg/m 3 ). The decline in bulk density as the soaking temperature increased up to 40 °C depicted that reduction in mass might be due to gaining of water content by the sample and fewer than associated volumetric expansion of the bulk; beyond 40 °C is vice versa. Storage studies of pregelatinized Basmati rice flour revealed a significant decrease in mean bulk density values which might be due to rise in moisture content and water activity. Increased moisture content besides decline in other components like crude fat and crude protein during storage resulted in decrease in bulk density (Zeigler et al., 2016) [49] . Similar findings were investigated that an increase in the moisture content and water activity of water chestnut flour that changed the particle size distribution which may have perhaps decreased the bulk density of flour during storage period (Beigh et al. 2019) [10] . A decline in the density values of maize flour with the advancement of time was also examined in another study (Shobha et al., 2014) [35] . Likewise, the storage period greatly influenced the bulk density of Indian horse chestnut flour and observed decreased bulk density with storage duration (Kumar and Thakur, 2017) [23] .

Water absorption index

The water absorption index indicates capability of a food product to grasp water (Singh, 2001) [37] . The water absorption index of flour performs vital role in product development, such as it specifies the amount of water needed to improve dough of optimal consistency as well as it represents the attributes and behavior of the flour once hydrated. Similarly, the water absorption index indicates the volume that a granule or starch polymer occupies after swelling in excess water (Singh and Kaur, 2019) [36] . The overall mean value of water absorption index revealed a significant increase from 2.61 g/g to 3.72 g/g that might be due to the heating treatment applied. It was evaluated that after hydrothermal treatment, the water absorption index of treated pregelatinized flour TCSW 1 rice increased (3 times that of raw rice) whereas other treated TCS 10 and TCS 17 increased slightly (1.2 ± 1.8 times of raw rice). [12] According to literature [17] the effect of soaking temperature on water absorption index of raw and parboiled samples among different rice cultivars. Their results revealed that the water absorption index increased with increase in temperatures at 60, 70 and 80 degree celsius. Besides, the compositional differences in carbohydrate, protein, fat, fibre and amylose concentration of the flour also result in changes in water absorption index of flour (Nura, 2011) [29] . During storage period of 3 months, water absorption index declined from 3.43 to 3.12 g/g. Our outcomes coincided with the findings of Singh and Kaur (2019) who evaluated that the water absorption index of baby corn soup mix decreased significantly from 3.150 to 2.582 g/g. Similar findings were observed (Nwosu et al., 2011) [30] .

Swelling power

Swelling power is another important functional characteristic of starch that shows the ability of starch to gain moisture under a definite cooking condition of 92.5 °C for 30 minutes (Ahmed et al., 2016) [6] . The present study observed that the overall mean value of swelling power of pregelatinized Basmati rice flour increased significantly as compared to control i.e. from 3.61 to 7.52 g/g. According to another literature, the swelling power of rice flour falls in the range of 5.82 to 16.23 g/g (Fari et al., 2011) [14] . Another study, determined the swelling power of 10.54 g/g in rice starch (Hormdok and Noomhorm, 2007) [16] . It has been suggested that various aspects like rice-milling techniques, temperature, starch granules, protein content, amylose and amylopectin concentration might 'distress the swelling power of rice flour (Ahmed et al., 2016) [6] . One more study investigated the effect of rice-milling methods such as dry milling and wet milling and temperature on the swelling power capacity of rice flour. They found swelling power of wet and dry milled rice flour were 3.8 g/g, 12.6 g/g at 25 °C and 4.7 g/g, 10.9 g/g at 100 °C temperature (Heo et al., 2013) [15] . Likewise, Thiranusornkij et al., 2018 [41] analysed swelling power of different rice flours such as Hom Nil rice (HN) and Hom Mali rice (HM) raised as temperature (55 °C to 95 °C) increased. Results revealed that HN rice had lower swelling power ranging from 4.38 ± 0.2 g/g to 15.8 ± 0.5 g/g at all temperatures. Our results are supported by another literature who stated that the swelling power of pregelatinization gayam flour increased as the pregelatinization time increased (Wijanarka et al., 2017) [47] . While assessing the storage behaviour it was found that the mean swelling power increased from 6.31 to 6.60 g/g during 30 days, later undergoes reduction during 90 days of storage. Overall mean values showed decline in swelling power from zero day to final day. Moreover, the influence of treatments, storage duration and their relations were observed significant. Similar results were observed for the swelling power of sweet potato flour that decreased in the first two weeks of storage later, increased amid the two to four weeks storage (Agbemafle et al., 2014) [5] . While this trend continued to sixth week in ambient conditions finally a decline in week four were reported in all the storage methods.

Microstructural analysis of pregelatinized Basmati rice flour

Microstructure analysis using SEM was carried out to know the effect of hydrothermal treatment on the microstructure of treated and untreated rice flour particles. The SEM images represented the shape of the rice flour particles as irregular polyhedral shapes (Figure 2.1) According to literature, polyhedral types of granules are common in rice starch. Uneven polyhedral shapes and agglomeration amid starch granules and further constituents were also observed (Wani et al., 2012) [45] . Usually, rice starches in tropical areas characterized polyhedral, round and irregular forms (Wani et al., 2013) [44] . In addition, the photographs presented the aggregation of starch granules into particles with a smooth cutting surface (Suklaew et al., 2020) [38] . The rice starch granules appeared to be closely packed in untreated flour, as seen in figures 2.1 and 2. where the starch granules were enlarged and seemed to be partially gelatinized. According to previous results, the flours obtained from rice cooked at 90 °C for 45 minutes were significantly dissimilar to those obtained from 50 °C for 45 minutes where a coarser and discontinuous honeycomb-like arrangement with pores designed due to gelatinization of starch and denaturation of proteins. Consequently, the cooking temperature of the rice grain had a more significant impact on the microscopic structure of flours compared to cooking time. At a microscopic level, the cooking temperature led to an increased pore size and a more substantial starch matrix within the inner layer of the endosperm (Leelayuthsoontorn and Thipayarat, 2006) [25] .

Correlation studies between physical properties of pregelatinized Basmati rice flours

The correlation studies are beneficial in product development. In the present research work, correlation results clearly depicted the interactions of physical properties and pregelatinization. The colour L* value showed negative correlation with colour a* and b* value. However, it had significant positive correlation with bulk density while negative correlation found with water activity of pregelatinized Basmati rice flour. A study revealed that the correlation between gelatinization percentage and total colour changes which include all three L*, a* and b* values (Abhiram, 2018) [2] . Another study carried out Pearson's correlation coefficients of physicochemical, functional and pasting characteristics of rice and maize flour to create relationship among variables (Wani et al., 2015) [46] . (Steeping at 60 °C for 30 min. + steam cooking for 5 min.) 0.53 defg 0.56 abcdefg 0.58 abcdef 0.60 abcde 0.989 bc 0.985 bc 0.981 cd 0.972 cde T3 (Steeping at 60 °C for 30 min. + steam cooking for 10 min.) 0.54 cdefg 0.55 bcdefg 0.57 abcdefg 0.59 abcdef 0.981 cd 0.977 cd 0.972 cde 0.960 cdef T4 (Steeping at 60 °C for 30 min. + steam cooking for 15 min.) 0.54 cdefg 0.57 abcdefg 0.59 abcdef 0.59 abcdef 0.973 cde 0.967 cde 0.960 cdef 0.945 cdef T5 (Steeping at 70 °C for 30 min. + steam cooking for 5 min.) 0.56 abcdefg 0.56 abcdefg 0.58 abcdef 0.60 abcde 0.960 cdef 0.953 cdef 0.933 cdef 0.917 def T6 (Steeping at 70 °C for 30 min. + steam cooking for 10 min.) 0.58 abcdef 0.59 abcdef 0.59 abcdef 0.61 abcd 0.952c def 0.942 cdef 0.928 cdef 0.912 ef T7 (Steeping at 70 °C for 30 min. + steam cooking for 15 min.) 0.58 abcdef 0.58 abcdef 0.59 abcdef 0.60 abcde 0.947 cdef 0.936 cdef 0.920d ef 0.902 f T8 (Steeping at 80 °C for 30 min. + steam cooking for 5 min.) 0.59 abcdef 0.60 abcde 0.60 abcde 0.62 abc 0.941 cdef 0.929 cdef 0.811 g 0.793 gh T9 (Steeping at 80 °C for 30 min. + steam cooking for 10 min.) 0.60 abcde 0.62 abc 0.63 ab 0.63 ab 0.933 cdef 0.920 def 0.762 gh 0.744 h T10 (Steeping at 80 °C for 30 min. + steam cooking for 15 min.) 0.61 abcd 0.61 abcd 0.62 abc 0.64a 0.925 cdef 0.911 ef 0.754 gh 0.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is feasible to develop pregelatinized Basmati rice flour from Basmati-370 brokens. Different time and temperature for pre-gelatinization were applied in this analysis was capable to modify the physical, functional properties and morphological structure of Basmati rice broken flour. Accordingly, Pre-gelatinized Basmati rice flour would be helpful in improving the structure of batters and doughs in the absence of gluten, improves water absorption and functions as an efficient binder and thickener in gluten-free products. Furthermore, pregelatinized Basmati rice flour has a great possibility for making good quality noodles, pasta products and various extruded products. This research study would be very useful in intensifying the utilization and use of Basmati-370 brokens in an effective way.

Acknowledgement

AcknowledgementThe First author expresses their gratitude to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi for providing the grant for this research work.

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