SWELLING POWER AND PASTE STABILITY OF FLOURS PREPARED FROM TWENTY COMMON RICE CULTIVARS IN EAST MALAYSIA

Rice is one of the most important cereal crops especially for people in the eastern part of Malaysia. Pasting property is one of the most essential rice properties affecting its texture and digestibility as well as end uses. It could be an indicator to predict the ability of the rice to form a paste under heat treatments. The objective of this study is to gain an understanding of consumers preference on swelling power and paste stability of rice flours among twenty East Malaysia most popular cultivars. All rice flours were assessed using a Rapid Visco Analyser (RVA). A wide variation in the pasting characteristics was observed among these rice cultivars. Peak and final viscosity vary significantly amongst varieties in which, they varied from 1580.00 cP to 3371.33 cP and from 1335.00 cP to 4689.00 cP, respectively. Result concluded that all cultivars possessed different characteristics of their pasting properties which might have a close relationship with their inherited characteristics and traits.