Impact of degree of milling on cooking duration and textural attributes of long‐grain hybrid rice for instant rice processing

Abstract Background and Objectives Due to the emergence of new hybrid rice cultivars, rice product processors need to refine processing protocols to continue producing high‐quality products; this is especially true for the instant rice processing industry. This study develops knowledge that is meant to help understand the processing characteristics of new hybrid rice cultivars that are meant to be used for instant rice production. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of the degree of milling (DOM) on cooking durations and textural properties of new long‐grain (LG) hybrid rice to be used in instant rice processing. Findings Gelatinization of the new cultivars was affected by DOM ( p < .0001). For milled rice, the cook duration estimated by the cooked rice moisture content (MC) relationship was comparable to data obtained from the common method of using gelatinized rice kernel to determine cook duration. However, the cook duration predicted based on cooked rice peak force relationships was significantly different ( p < .05) for studied cultivars. For brown rice, the cook duration estimated by the cooked rice moisture content (MC) and peak force relationships were similar but significantly lower than that obtained by gelatinized rice kernel method. DOM did not affect the textural property values of cooked rice for the studied cultivars ( p > .05). Conclusions Rice milled to a lesser degree took longer to gelatinize, while brown rice took the longest duration. The textural properties of cooked rice did not change significantly for different rice cultivars. Significance and Novelty Cook durations for milled and brown rice for newer LG hybrid rice cultivars (XL 753 and RT 7521 FP) were established. The study has provided information crucial to understanding the impacts of DOM on rice cooking duration and textural attributes of hybrid rice. This information is important for the instant rice processing industry.