Effect of steaming on accelerated ageing of rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Naturally aged rice is generally preferred in Indian subcontinent since, it swells better during cooking, cooked kernels are less sticky with more linear elongation and produces thin gruel. Natural ageing is done by storing harvested paddy for at least 4-6 months before milling. Accelerated ageing is an artificial technique that induces ageing effect in rice within a short period of time. Under hydrothermal treatment, dry (@14% moisture) paddy samples were steamed at three pressures (0.0, 0.5 and 1.0 kg/cm2 gauge) for 5, 10 and 15 min. The treated paddy samples were milled to study milling, physico-chemical, cooking and textural characteristics of rice. Among all the treatments studied, paddy steaming @ 1.0 kg/cm2 , 5 minwas found to be best for accelerated ageing of rice.