International Journal of Agriculture Sciences

ISSN: 0975-3710&E-ISSN: 0975-9107, Volume 9, Issue 49, 2017, pp.-4826-4831.

Available online at http://www.bioinfopublication.org/jouarchive.php?opt=&jouid=BPJ0000217

Research Article
EFFECTS OF PARBOILING STEPS ON STARCH CHARACTERISTICS AND GLYCEMIC INDEX OF BASMATI
(PB1121) RICE

KALE S.J.1*, KALE P.N.1 AND JHA S.K.2

1ICAR-Central Institute of Postharvest Engineering and Technology, Abohar, Punjab - 152116.
2ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi-110012, India.
*Corresponding Author: [email protected]

Received: October 18, 2017; Revised: October 22, 2017; Accepted: October 23, 2017; Published: October 30, 2017

Abstract- Effects of soaking and steaming steps, individually on selected starch characteristics and GI of Pusa Basmati 1121 rice was evaluated. Rough rice was
soaked at seven different temperatures (40-80°C) and soaking effect on starch content, A m/Ap ratio, pasting properties, starch crystallinity, degree of gelatinization,
grain transparency and GI of rice was determined. Similarly, rough rice was soaked at 65°C for 345 min and subsequently steamed at different steaming conditions to
determine the steaming effect on these quality parameters. Starch content, Am/Ap ratio, crystallinity, DG and GI of raw rice was determined as 73.24%, 0.59, 28.49%,
5.59% and 58.41, respectively. Soaking reduced the crystallinity up 14.08% whereas steaming reduced it up to 5.72%. Similar trend was observed for other parameters
also. Both soaking and steaming decreased the pasting viscosities, converted crystalline form of starch into amorphous one, imparted translucency to the grains, and
decreased the GI. However, soaking step achieved partial gelatinization whereas steaming step achieved complete gelatinizatio n of starch. Soaking step absorbed the
moisture to swallow the starch granules whereas steaming step ruptured the crystalline polyhedral structure to yield compact, amorphous and translucent rice.
Keywords- Crystallinity, Glycemic Index, Soaking, Starch, Steaming
Citation: Kale S.J., et al., (2017) Effects of Parboiling Steps on Starch Characteristics and Glycemic Index of Basmati (PB1121) Rice. International Journal of Agriculture
Sciences, ISSN: 0975-3710 & E-ISSN: 0975-9107, Volume 9, Issue 49, pp.-4826-4831.
Copyright: Copyright©2017 Kale S.J., et al., This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits
unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Academic Editor / Reviewer: Dr Anilkumar Vasudev Pandya

Introduction distribution of nutrients within the grain [7-10]. Soaking is a hydration process
Starch is the most important constituent of rice grain. Its share in milled raw rice during which water necessary for starch gelatinization diffuses into the rice kernel.
grain at 14% moisture content (wb) is reported to be 71% [1]. Rice starch granule Various studies demonstrated the effects of soaking step on rice quality
consists of two major components, amylose and amylopectin which are polymers characteristics [7-9]. Steaming step has also a great importance as complete
of α-D-glucose units. Rice starch has a crystalline structure. Starch crystallinity starch gelatinization is achieved during it without removal of moisture from the
decides the cooking qualities, pasting behavior and glycemic index (GI) of rice. soaked grains. During steaming, granular texture of starchy endosperm becomes
Milling recovery is also influenced by the nature of rice starch. Rice with higher pasty, compact and translucent, biological processes are inhibited and the
amount of crystalline starch fetches more breakage whereas rice having enzymes are inactivated [10, 11].
amorphous starch with lower crystallinity fetches smaller amount of milling As a result, it can be stated that starch is the most affected rice constituent during
breakage. Therefore, it is always economical to convert the crystalline starch into soaking and steaming steps of parboiling. The effects of parboiling steps on
amorphous form prior to rice milling. This conversion is achieved through a quality of rice starch can be assessed by evaluating different starch characteristics
gelatinization process called as 'parboiling'. like amylose to amylopectin (Am/Ap) ratio, pasting properties, percent crystallinity,
Parboiling brings either partial or complete gelatinization of starch depending on degree of gelatinization (DG), grain microstructure, grain translucency etc.
the severity of parboiling conditions. Parboiling induced gelatinization is generally Previous studies reported that Am/Ap ratio decides the cooking and eating qualities
accompanied by granule swelling, preferential amylose leaching and melting of of rice [12, 13]. Pasting property of starch is a good indicator of the quality of rice
crystallites [2]. Raw rice starch shows typical A-shaped pattern [3,4]. But after starch. Rice with lower viscosity values, when cooked, gives non sticky, firmer
parboiling, such A-shaped crystallinity pattern is either reduced or completely grain with reduced gruel loss and improved texture [14]. After soaking and
destroyed depending on the severity of parboiling [5]. Presence of typical A- steaming, crystallinity is reduced whereas DG is increased, may be due to partial
shaped crystals i.e. un-gelatinized starch granules causes the presence of white or complete gelatinization of starch [4, 13, 15]. Grain translucency is also the
bellies/chalkiness in the endosperm that further contributes to higher amount of quality indicator of parboiled rice. Grain appearance is largely determined by the
milling breakage [6]. Therefore, parboiling becomes indispensable to change the translucency of the grain and is inversely related to the amount of chalkiness [16].
nature of rice starch and thereby reduction in milling breakage in the rice. Higher levels of chalkiness reduce the milling recovery [17].
Conventional parboiling process involves three major steps namely soaking, Parboiling induced changes in the rice starch can also be evaluated by
steaming and drying. Among these steps, soaking and steaming are more critical determining the GI of rice as GI value is mainly depend on starch characteristics of
steps as far as nutritional and structural changes inside rice grains are concerned. rice. In view of increased risk of lifestyle diseases, there is increased preference
Both steps change the grain microstructure along with gross composition and for foods having low GI. Therefore millers, traders and consumers strongly look for

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 Effects of Parboiling Steps on Starch Characteristics and Glycemic Index of Basmati (PB1121) Rice

rice with low GI. Reports reveal that parboiling reduces the GI of rice by almost suspensions of 10% w/w (total weight: 28 g) were prepared and the Rice 1 profile
30% when compared to non-parboiled rice of the same variety [18]. A report on of Newport Scientific instruments was used. The samples were held at 50°C for 1
thermal treatment of basmati varieties has shown reduction in GI below 55, min, heated from 50°C to 95°C, held at 95°C for 2.40 min and then cooled to
making them low GI food [19]. Pathiraje et al. [20] investigated the effect of 50°C and finally held at 50°C for 1 min. Peak viscosity, breakdown viscosity, final
parboiling on in vivo glycemic response of different rice varieties and observed viscosity and setback viscosity were observed.
that parboiling caused significant reduction in glycemic response. Therefore, a
systematic evaluation of the effect of parboiling steps on GI of rice may be helpful Starch crystallinity
to the millers to produce rice with low GI. X-ray diffractograms of flours of rice samples were determined using an Analytical
Information on effects of parboiling steps i.e. soaking and steaming on starch Diffractometer (Pan Analytical, Phillips, Holland). The diffractograms were
characteristics and GI of any rice variety is useful to the millers and consumers in acquired over a 2θ (Bragg's angle) range of 4–30° with a step size of 0.02° [3].
deciding the quality of parboiled rice. Consequently, an attempt was made in Starch crystallinity (%) was evaluated by taking the ratio of peak area and total
present study to parboil the PB1121 rice, the most popular basmati variety of India area obtained from the diffractograms as shown in [Eq-1] [4].
in present times, and to evaluate the effects of soaking and steaming steps on
selected starch characteristics and GI of this variety. Crystallinity (%) =
Area under peaks
× 100 ...[1]
Total ppek area

Materials and Methods

Parboiling of rough rice Microstructure of rice grains
Rough rice (variety PB1121) was parboiled using conventional hydrothermal Microscopic images of rice grain samples were determined using Scanning
parboiling method. Rough rice of moisture content 13.77% (db) was obtained from Electron Microscope (Zeiss EVOMA10) at 20 kv and 10 Pa. Dried grains were cut
the field of ICAR-Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi. Soaking was using razor blade and specimens were mounted on aluminium studs [23].
conducted in a distilled water using water bath (MAC, MSW-275, Micro Scientific Samples were coated with 24 nm thick coating of palladium and images were
Works (R), Delhi, India) at seven different temperatures 40, 50, 60, 65, 70, 75 and taken.
80°C. 500 g of rough rice was soaked in 1.5 litres of water (1:3 ratio) till grains
achieved critical moisture content (about 41%, db) of soaking [21]. Soaked grains Degree of gelatinization (%)
were dried, de-husked and milled at 8% degree of milling. Milled grains were DG of rice starch was determined using the method previously used by Dutta and
analysed for selected starch characteristics and GI. An optimum soaking Mahanta [4]. 200 mg rice sample was dispersed in 100 ml distilled water, stirred
temperature for PB1121 rice was considered as 65 oC for 345 min, as optimized for 5 min and subsequently centrifuged at 1500 rpm for 25 min. 1 ml supernatant
earlier [9, 21]. was then diluted to 10 ml with distilled water and 0.1 ml iodine solution was added.
Another lot of rough rice was soaked in 500 ml of water at 65 oC for 345 min and The method was repeated using 100 ml of 10 M KOH in place of distilled water
immediately steamed in horizontal autoclave (Tradevel Scientific Industries, New and the absorbance of both solutions were recorded at 600 nm using UV-vis
Delhi) at different steaming treatments. Steaming treatment involved 2 variables, spectrophotometer (Specord, Analytik, Jena). DG was calculated using following
steaming pressure (0.0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5 kg/cm2) and steaming duration (5, 10, 15, equation [Eq-2].
20 and 25 min). Coding of steaming treatments were done accordingly and
Absorbance of fresh solution
presented in [Table-1]. Steamed grains were dried up to 14% (db) moisture DG (%) = × 100 . . . [2]
Absorbance of alkali solubilized solution
content and milled at 8% degree of milling. Milled grains were used for further
analysis. Grain transparency
Rice grains were kept on a glass platform and light was shined through them.
Table-1 Coding of steaming treatments (Kale et al., 2017) Photographs of shined rice grains were taken to observe the rice grain
Steaming Steaming Code Steaming Steaming Code
pressure time (min) pressure time (min) transparency [24]. The arrangement made to determine the rice grain
(kg/cm2) (kg/cm2) transparency is shown in [Fig-1].
0.0 5 T1 1.0 5 T11
0.0 10 T2 1.0 10 T12
0.0 15 T3 1.0 15 T13
0.0 20 T4 1.0 20 T14 Photograph
0.0 25 T5 1.0 25 T15
0.5 5 T6 1.5 5 T16
0.5 10 T7 1.5 10 T17 Camera
0.5 15 T8 1.5 15 T18
0.5 20 T9 1.5 20 T19 Rice grains
0.5 25 T10 1.5 25 T20

Starch and Am/Ap ratio

Starch content of raw, soaked and steamed grains was determined by Anthrone Light source
reagent method [22]. Amylose content was determined using colorimetric method
Fig-1 Arrangement for determination of rice grain transparency
[22]. Amylopectin content was determined by subtracting the amylose content
from starch content. Am/Ap ratio was obtained using amylose and amylopectin
Glycemic Index
contents of rice samples.
GI of rice samples was determined using In vitro starch digestion method [12, 25].
Cooked rice samples were digested for 3 h at 40 oC. Starch digestion was carried
Pasting properties
out using enzymes, pepsin from porcine gastrine mucosa (ref. 107195, Merck)
A Rapid Visco Analyser (RVA Starchmaster 2, Newport Scientific Instruments,
and α-amylase from porcine pancreas (ref. A-3176, Sigma). During digestion, 1 ml
Australia) was used to determine the pasting properties of rice flours. Rice flour

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 Kale S.J., Kale P.N. and Jha S.K.

aliquot was taken from each sample after every 30 min from 0 to 3 h. pasting properties of rice flours significantly (α=0.05) [Table-2]. Raw rice flour had
Subsequently, the total reducing sugar content of aliquots was determined by the the highest viscosity values whereas these values decreased gradually after
3,5-dinitrosalicylic acid (DNS) reagent method [26]. Maltose was used to prepare soaking at 40 to 80oC [Table-2]. Soaking induced decrease in viscosity might be
the standard curve. Starch digestion rate was conveyed as the percent starch due to the decreased water binding ability, indicating the partial gelatinization of
hydrolysed at different five intervals (30 to 180 min). Areas under hydrolysis curve starch during soaking step at 60 and 80 oC [31]. Negative values of breakdown
(AUC, 0-180 min) were obtained by equation given by Goni et al. [25]. Hydrolysis viscosity showed that there was no distinct peak viscosity in case of all the flour
Index (HI) was calculated as the ratio of AUC for a rice sample and the AUC for a slurries.
reference sample (white bread) and expressed as a percentage. Expected GI was Although, viscosity values decreased after soaking, further decrease in viscosity
then estimated using the following equation [Eq-3] [12]. was noticed due to steaming. The highest viscosity values, in case of raw rice
were attributed to the crystalline nature of starch and its ability to bind more water.
GI = 39.71 + (0.549 × HI) … [3] On the contrary, partially and completely gelatinized starch of soaked and
steamed rice, respectively lost their water binding ability [31] and hence could not
Further, in order to make the GI values of PB1121 rice comparable with GI of form pastes of high viscosities. Thus, from results, it can be understood that on
different foods, it was converted in to the GI based on glucose by multiplying it cooking, raw rice will become sticky and softer whereas soaked and steamed rice
with 0.7 [27]. become non-sticky and firmer. However, steamed rice would be non-stickier and
firmer as compared to soaked rice. Dutta and Mahanta [4] reported that parboiling
Statistical analysis brings noticeable changes in the pasting properties of rice starch due to order–
Starch content, Am/Ap ratio, pasting properties, crystallinity, DG and GI were disorder transitions taking place at the molecular level.
measured in triplicate and the means were calculated. Duncan's multiple range
test was performed to test the statistical differences in these properties as affected Table-2 Pasting properties of flours from raw, soaked and steamed rice
by parboiling steps. SPSS software (version 16.0) was used to conduct the tests. Treatment Peak Final viscosity Breakdown Setback
The significance was accepted at 5% levels of significance (α= 0.05). viscosity (cP) (cP) (cP) (cP)
Raw 1302i 3995i -4d 2693j
In present study, results indicated that although statistical differences were
Soaked rice
observed in the selected starch characteristics and GI values due to variation in 40oC 1075h 3577h -7bc 2502i
soaking and steaming treatments, from practical standpoint, these differences 60oC 677g 2309g -14a 1632h
were very little to not significant. Hence, results of only relevant soaking and 80oC 526e 1505e -6c 979g
steaming treatments have been presented and discussed to draw appropriate Soaked-steamed
conclusions. T5 634f 1576f -8b 941f
T10 674g 1596f -4d 922e
T15 251c 512c -7b 261c
Results And Discussion T16 343d 633d -4d 290d
Effect of soaking and steaming on starch content and Am/Ap ratio T18 183b 391b -4d 208b
Starch content of raw PB1121 rice was found as 73.24%. However, this content T20 114a 216a -1e 102a
decreased by 3.74 to 11.06% after soaking at all temperatures. Starch content Values followed by same alphabet in a column do not differ significantly (α=0.05).
varied from 65.14 - 70.50% in soaked rice. Decrease in starch content after
soaking might be due to leaching of amylose during heating in water [28]. Starch Effect of soaking and steaming on starch crystallinity
content of rice was further decreased after steaming also. This content after Amylose is the major crystalline constituent in the rice starch. Crystallinity (%)
soaking at 65°C for 345 min was 68.74%. But when rice soaked at 65°C for 345 measures the levels of crystalline amylose in rice [32]. It was observed that raw
min and further steamed under different steaming conditions, its starch content rice starch had 28.49% crystallinity whereas the rice samples soaked at 40, 60
varied from 63.34 – 68.24%. Such steaming induced decrease in starch content and 80oC had 20.77, 19.02 and 14.08% crystallinity, respectively [Fig-2]. Manful et
might be due to formation of amylose-lipid complexes during hydrothermal al. [32] also reported the crystallinity of raw rice (var. TOX 3108) as 24.6%. Like
process [7, 29]. Although, there was no leaching during steaming, starch soaking, steaming also decreased the starch crystallinity. However, the extent of
gelatinization and formation of amylose-lipid complexes at these treatments might reduction in crystallinity in steamed rice was significantly (α=0.05) higher than the
have made starch molecules less extractable. Decrease in starch content after soaked rice samples. Rice when soaked at 65°C for 345 min followed by steaming
parboiling has also been reported by Derycke et al. [29] and Sareepuang et al. [7] at 1.5 kg/cm2 pressure for 25 min showed 5.72% crystallinity. Decrease in
Am/Ap ratio is considered to be one of the most important factors affecting the rate crystallinity of rice (var. TOX 3108) from 24.6% to 19.7% after steaming (soaking
of starch digestion [30]. Its value for raw PB1121 rice was found as 0.59 whereas at 90oC followed by open steaming for 8 min) has also been reported by Manful et
this value varied from 0.52 - 0.59 after soaking at different temperatures. al. [32]. Report also indicates that commercially parboiled rice showed crystallinity
Decrease in Am/Ap ratio after soaking might be due to decrease in amylose of 5.5% [32]. The decrease in crystallinity after soaking indicated the partial
content during. At 65°C of soaking temperature (for 345 min), A m/Ap ratio was gelatinization of soaked rice. This partial gelatinization was accompanied by
found as 0.59. However, when rice soaked at 65°C for 345 min and subsequently granule swelling, preferential amylose leaching and the melting of crystallites i.e.
steamed under varying steaming conditions, this ratio varied from 0.53 - 0.58. loss of X-ray diffraction pattern [2]. The loss in crystallinity was relatively lesser in
Higher reduction was observed at severe steaming treatments as compared to soaked samples as compared to steamed samples, because steamed rice was
mild treatments. The reduction in Am/Ap ratio after steaming was due to decrease completely gelatinized whereas soaked rice was only partially gelatinized.
in estimated amylose content. In present study, it was also noticed that at
intermediate soaking temperatures (60-70°C), the change in Am/Ap ratio was Effect of soaking and steaming on rice grain microstructure
minimal. Even though this ratio decreased after soaking and steaming, its value Microscopic images of raw, soaked and steamed rice grains were obtained using
was still higher than the normal value 0.25, reported for wheat, maize, potato and scanning electronic microscope (SEM) and relatively relevant images are
tapioca. presented in [Fig-3]. Results indicated that raw grain and grain soaked at 40°C
had distinct polyhedral starch granules with air gaps and cracks in-between them.
Effect of soaking and steaming on pasting properties However, grains soaked at 60 and 80°C showed swelling of starch granules.
Pasting behavior is a key tool to determine the quality of rice starch. Pasting Moreover, this swelling was more noticeable in the grain soaked at 80 oC.
properties of rice starch can be related with cooking and textural properties of Similarly, steamed rice samples did not show distinct starch granules and air gaps
cooked rice. Present study noticed that both soaking and steaming changed the or any crack. Rice sample steamed for 5 min at 1.5 kg/cm 2 pressure (T16) showed

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 Effects of Parboiling Steps on Starch Characteristics and Glycemic Index of Basmati (PB1121) Rice

partial gelatinization of starch as only the swallowing of starch granules was

observed whereas rice steamed for ≥10 min (T 17) showed complete gelatinization
as starch granules formed a compact, hard mass with amorphous like structure.

(T17)
Fig-3 SEM images of raw, soaked and steamed rice
Fig-2 Crystallinity of raw, soaked and steamed rice starch
Effect of soaking and steaming on degree of gelatinization
From results, it can be understood that water absorption during soaking step could
DG value (%) indicates the amount of gelatinized starch present in the rice.
swallow the starch granules and brought partial gelatinization of starch, whereas
Variation in DG (%) with severity of soaking and steaming steps is presented in
steaming step brought the complete gelatinization of starch and converted
[Table-3]. Both soaking and steaming showed significant effect on DG values
crystalline form of starch in to amorphous one. Thus, both the parboiling steps
(α=0.05). Results indicated that gelatinized starch content increased with severity
have inevitable roles in conventional parboiling process and hence cannot be
of soaking. Its value was 5.59% for raw rice whereas it increased from 21.91 to
avoided.
31.94% when soaked at 40-80°C. The highest degree of gelatinization was
observed at 80°C, might be due to higher thermal exposure at this temperature
[33]. Results also indicated that gelatinized starch content increased with severity
of steaming. It varied from 38.00 - 61.84% when steamed at T5 - T20. Similar to the
pasting properties, crystallinity and microscopic images as presented above, DG
(%) values also indicated that soaking could achieve partial gelatinization only
(DG value ≤31.92) whereas steaming achieved maximum possible gelatinization
of starch (DG value up to 61.84) in PB1121 rice, thus indicating the specific roles
and importance of both the steps.

Table-3 Effect of soaking and steaming on DG (%) of rice starch

Sample Treatment DG (%)
Raw Untreated 5.59a
Soaked 40°C 20.91b
Raw rice
60°C 24.22c
80°C 31.92d
Soaked - T5 38.00e
steamed T10 41.18ef
T15 47.17f
T16 47.93f
T17 50.41g
T18 58.54h
T19 60.47i
T20 61.84i

Values followed by same alphabet in a column do not differ significantly (α=0.05).

80oC Effect of soaking and steaming on rice grain transparency

Rice grain transparency provides the subjective measurement of grain
translucency and chalkiness. It indicates the presence/ absence of chalkiness in
the grains. In present study, it was determined by shining light through the rice
grains. [Fig-4] represents the effect of soaking and steaming steps on rice grain
transparency. It is evident from [Fig-4] that raw rice and rice soaked at 40 oC was
appeared to be rough, crystalline, polygonal cylinder with pointed ends whereas
rice soaked at 60 and 80°C was appeared to be smooth, amorphous cylinder with
rounded ends. The aforesaid changes in rice soaked at ≥60°C might be due to
partial gelatinization of the starch during soaking [1, 6, 11].
It was also noted that the surface of steamed rice was appeared to be smooth,
compact, translucent, amorphous cylinder with rounded ends, depending upon the
severity of steaming. Steaming pressure affected the rice grain transparency.
Increase in steaming pressure (at fixed steaming time of 25 min i.e. treatments T5
(T16) to T20) made grain more translucent and smoother. Similarly, increase in steaming

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 Kale S.J., Kale P.N. and Jha S.K.

time (keeping a constant steaming pressure of 1.5 kg/cm 2 i.e. treatments T16 to occurred in starch during steaming.
T20) produced the rice with more compact, smoother and translucent grain [Fig-4]. From results it can be observed that, soaking (at ≥60°C) alone could remove
Rice grain steamed at 1.5 kg/cm2 pressure for 25 min (T20) was appeared to be some amount of chalkiness in the grains but grains were still not completely
the most transparent grain. The change in grain transparency after steaming was translucent. However, steaming (≥T17) produced completely translucent rice
due to the complete gelatinization of starch and thereby irreversible changes grains.

Raw rice 40oC 60oC 80oC

T5 T10 T15 T16

T17 T18 T19 T20

Fig-4 Effect of soaking and steaming steps on rice grain transparency

Effect of soaking and steaming on GI of PB1121 rice GI.

Low GI foods are preferred more over medium and high GI foods. Therefore,
determination of GI value of food materials is very important. In present study, Table-4 GI of raw, soaked and steamed rice samples
results revealed that raw PB1121 rice is a medium GI (56-69) food, may be due to Sample Treatment GI (bread=100) GI (glucose=100)
high amylose content (27.26%) and presence of stable amylose-lipid complex as Raw Untreated 83.44i 58.41i
observed from the X-ray diffractograms [9]. GI values of raw and soaked rice Soaked 40°C 82.80h 57.96h
samples were found to be 58.41 and 54.31 - 57.96, respectively when glucose 60°C 78.11g 54.67g
was the reference sample [Table-4]. GI of basmati rice was also reported to be 83 80°C 77.59f 54.31f
and 58 when reference samples were white bread and glucose, respectively [27]. Soaked - T5 77.14f 53.99f
Soaking at 40°C did not reduce the GI notably, but soaking at ≥60°C decreased steamed T10 75.01e 52.50e
the GI of PB1121 rice significantly (α=0.05) making it low GI (≤55) food [Table-4]. T15 73.06d 51.14d
Such decrease in GI with increase in soaking temperature might be attributed to T16 75.94e 53.16f
the formation of additional amylose-lipid complexes and partial gelatinization of T17 72.24c 50.57c
starch at ≥60°C. T18 70.28b 49.20b
Like soaking step, steaming step also reduced the GI of PB1121 rice significantly T19 67.20a 47.04a
T20 67.43a 47.20a
(α=0.05). Results indicated that almost all the steaming treatments produced rice
Values followed by same alphabet in a column do not differ significantly (α=0.05).
having GI<55 when glucose was the reference sample. In other words, these
treatments produced rice having low GI and made it suitable for diabetics. Soaking
Conclusions
step alone could reduce the GI of PB1121 rice up to 53.99, whereas steaming
further reduced the GI of rice up to 47.04. Thus, parboiling found to be Soaking and steaming are the most important steps of rice parboiling due to their
severe effects on starch characteristics, nutritional composition and distribution in
advantageous, in terms of GI value, as it could produce the PB1121 rice with low
the grains. Hence, an attempt was made in present study to evaluate the effect of

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 Effects of Parboiling Steps on Starch Characteristics and Glycemic Index of Basmati (PB1121) Rice

soaking and steaming steps, individually on selected starch characteristics and GI [10] Kale SJ, Jha SK and Nath P (2017) J Food Proc Engg
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crystalline form of starch in to amorphous one, imparted translucency to the Oilseeds. (Third Edition). Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. PVT. Ltd. New Delhi.
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varieties of rice. Therefore, results of this study would be useful to the rice millers, (2010) Tropic Agricu Res., 22(1), 26 - 33.
especially for basmati rice millers, to produce parboiled PB1121 rice with lower GI [21] Kale SJ, Jha SK, Jha GK and Samuel DVK (2013) J Agric Engg., 50(3),
and better quality. 29–38.
[22] Sadasivam S and Manickam A (1992) In: Biochemical Methods for
Acknowledgement Agricultural Sciences, Wiley Eastern Limited, New Delhi, India.
The authors of this duly acknowledge the financial support and facilities provided [23] Li X, Huang K, Zhu B, Liang Z, Wel L and Luo Y (2008) J Food Sci., 73(1),
by PG School, Indian Agriculture Research Institute, New Delhi and the Council of 64-69.
Scientific and Industrial Research, New Delhi during the course of study. [24] Zhu LJ, Dogan H, Gajula H, Gu MH, Liu QQ and Shi YC (2012) J Cereal
Sci, 55, 1-5.
Author Contributions: [25] Goni I, Garcia-Alonso A and Saura-Calixto F (1997) Nutr Res., 17(3), 427–
All authors equally contributed 437.
[26] Ghose TK (1987) Pure Appl Chem., 59(2), 257–268.
Abbreviations: [27] Foster-Powell K, Holt SHA and Brand-Miller JC (2002) American J Clinical
wb wet basis Nutr., 76(1), 5–56.
db dry basis [28] Singh N, Inouchi N and Nishinari K (2006) Food Hydrocoll., 20(6), 923-935.
GI glycemic index [29] Derycke V, Vandeputte GE, Vermeylen R, de Man W, Goderis B, Koch
Am/Ap amylose to amylopectin ratio MHJ and Delcour JA (2005) J Cereal Sci., 42(3), 334–343.
DG degree of gelatinization [30] Denardin CC, Walter M, da Silva LP, Souto GD and Fagundes CAA (2007)
PB pusa basmati Food Chem., 105, 1474–1479.
Min minutes [31] Soponronnarit S, Nathakaranakule A, Jirajindalert A and Taechapaorij C
% percent (2006) J Food Engg., 75, 423–432.
HI hydrolysis index [32] Manful JT, Grimm CC, Gayin J and Coker RD (2008) Cereal Chem., 85(l),
cP centipoise 92–95.
[33] Ahromrit A, Ledward DA and Niranjan K (2006) J Food Engg., 72, 225–233.
Conflict of Interest
It is stated that there is no conflict of interest for publication of this article. All the
contributors have been duly acknowledged.

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International Journal of Agriculture Sciences

ISSN: 0975-3710&E-ISSN: 0975-9107, Volume 9, Issue 49, 2017
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