A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, School of Environment, Resources and Development

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1987

In this study, the effects of conduction heat treatments on milling and cooking quality of low moisture fresh paddy were investigated. The heating surface temperature ranged from 80 to 120°C. The head r ice yield of paddy samples appeared to depend largely upon the final grain temperature based on the combined results of all heating experiments. The paddy could be heated up to 60°C without any marked reduction in its head yield. the appearance of the milled rice samples from heat-treated paddy was comparable to that of the control. Changes in cooked r ice texture of heat-treated and naturally-aged samples were evaluated using the Instron tester. The hardness of cooked rice increased in the range of 1. 5 to 19. 5% while t he stickiness decreased in the range of 3. 4 to 27.3% as a result of the heat treatments showing a distinct improvement in the eating quality . The texture changes in the heat-treated samples resembled with 2 to 3 months aged rice . In addition, the heat treatments of l ow moisture paddy effectively controlled the development of insects during the storage over a period of about 3 months .