摘要：Apart from the physical qualities such as hardness and “good head rice yield” usually associated with parboiling, the improvement or otherwise of cooking and eating/sensory characteristics of parboiled rice cannot be discounted. The extent to which these attributes are affected is paramount for consumers’ acceptability. The effect of varied parboiling conditions on the cooking and eating/sensory characteristics of Nerica 14 and Jasmine 85 rice varieties was assessed. The two varieties were parboiled at three levels as mild parboiling condition (6 h soaking; 40 min steaming), moderate parboiling condition (20 or 24 h soaking; 60 min steaming) and severe parboiling condition (36 h soaking; 90 min steaming). Milled rice from each parboiling condition was cooked and the attributes determined. After which the cooked rice was served to a trained panel of 9 who ate and sensory evaluated the rice. The functional differences in parboiled rice due to varied parboiling conditions were evident. Parboiling significantly affects (p<0.05) the cooking and eating/sensory characteristics of jasmine 85 and nerica 24. Medium parboiling condition (20 h soaking, 60 min steaming) gave the most acceptable cooking and eating/sensory characteristics as it gave good parametric values like water uptake rate of 2.5-2.8 mL g-1, volum expansion rate of 6.5-6.6 cm-3 g-1 and taste score of 85.5-94.0%. At the same time it gave the least in negative parameter such as leached materials (4.0-4.3%) and stickiness level of 1.6-1.8%. Mediujm parboiling condition i.e., 20 h soaking, 60 min steaming is therefore rocommended for practitioners in the parboiling industry.
