Studies on suitability of Indian rice variety for preparation of instant rice

Abstract

Different rice varieties viz. Basmati, Indrayani and HMT rice were selected for the experiment. Physical, chemical and cooking characteristics of raw rice were determined. Further, the Instant Rice is prepared by pressure cooking method followed by freezing at -240C at 24 hrs and then drying in a tray dryer at 700C. The cooking properties like minimum cooking time, elongation ratio, cooked L/b, water uptake ratio, gruel solid loss in raw basmati were 17 min, 1.86%, 4.42 mm, 3.64 %, 3.08% and instant basmati rice was 6 min, 1.92%, 4.48mm, 2.16%, 2.49% which could be correlated with change in amylase content. The sensory evaluation and cooking characteristics of samples revealed basmati rice scored high values in terms of colour, taste, flavour, mouth feel and overall acceptability.