Abstract:
'Pathum Thani I' rice with initial moisture content of 25-26% wet basis (wb.) was dried by l) sun
drying (SO) at 33-35?C for 8 hr, 2) using a spouted bed (SB) at 120?C for 3 min + hot air oven (0)
at 50?C for 8 hr, 3) using a SB at 120 C for 3 min + tempering 30 min + SB at 110 C for 2 min, or
4) using microwave oven (M) (electric power output 900 Watte and lOOP) for 1 min drying with +
drying again with M for I min. These methods effectively reduce the moisture content to the safe
level of 14.87-15.01%. The predominant component of the aroma of 'Pathum Thani I' rice is 2acetyl-
l-pyrroline (ACPY) and the highest ACPY content in brown rice were obtained from sun drying,
due to the lower temperature of drying, and followed by SB+T (510 and 271 ppb). The high
temperature of M drying results in the lowest ACPY content. SO, however, gives the highest
rancidity (thiobarbuturic acid, TBA) and free fatty acid (FFA) content, but hexanal is not detected in
brown rice. The amylose, protein and lipid contents of brown rice are not affected by drying
methods. The M drying shows the lowest head rice yield and whiteness of milled rice while the
other drying techniques are not significantly different. The SB+T reveals hardness texture of cooked
rice. The sensory tests of cooked rice, consisted of appearance, colour, aroma, taste, and the overall
acceptance, are not significantly different among treatments except the M drying technique, which
revealed the lowest score. It can be concluded that the quality and aroma of the rice was preserve by
the SB+T compared with other drying techniques. The dried rice obtaining from SB+O or SB+T
was stored in round metal silos (050 em> 170 em) with or without ventilation system (V or NY) for
4 months. SD+NV was used as the control treatment. The result shows that SB+T+V slows down
the changes of rice physical quality but it could maintain the ACPY content in brown rice compared
to other treatment but lesser than the control treatment. The hexanal can not be detected. The same
amount ofTBA content of brown rice is found in SB+T+V and SB+O+V, which are lower than the
other combinations. The FFA of brown rice slightly increased during storage but it is not different
among treatments. The chemical compositions, amylose, protein, and lipid content, did not change.
The panelists accepted the qualities of the cooked rice from all combination treatments.
Additionally, the milled rice quality (whiteness, head yield, and hardness of cooked milled rice) is
slowly increased in the SB+T+V sample. The head rice yield of milled rice steeply increases from
24 to 50% after being stored for 1 month and does not change thereafter. The V silo's storage of
dried rice lowers the degradation of ACPY in brown rice and the changes of the rice quality than
that in the NY silo. The V silo's drying technique using SB+T before storing the rice can be
recommended for commercial level.