Abstract
Kayoko Nakashima Ritsuko Kishimoto The water absorption and characteristics of Asamurasaki unpolished glutinous purple rice were investigated. The water absorption was affected by the temperature of the distilled water used for washing the rice, being about twice as much when washed at 30° than at 7°. The rice samples were washed under the same conditions for direct comparisons. The amount of water absorbed by the unpolished glutinous purple rice was no different from that by unpolished glutinous whiter ice when the samples were soaked for 4hours in water at 7°. The amount of water absorbed by the unpolished purple rice was 36.8% when it was soaked for 24 hours in water at 30°, and that of unpolished white rice was 33.7%. The soaking time needed to saturate the unpolished glutinous purple rice was 168 hours(34.1% water absorption)in water at 7°, and 72 hours(40.3% water absorption) in water at 30°. Wesuggest in practice that unpolished glutinous purple rice should be soaked for 8 hours at 30°and then heated in a pressure cooker.
