Abstract
This study was carried out to establish the technique to classify brown rice by measuring leaf-color during ripening period in order to improve the eating-quality of brown rice produced in country elevator area of Shonai area of Yamagata prefecture. The correlation coefficient between the protein content of brown rice and the leaf-color of flag leaf at the dough stage was highest followed by that at maturity and milky stage. The annual and locational variation of correlation between the protein content and the leaf-color measured at dough stage was smaller than that measured at maturity and at milky stage. The result indicated that it was possible to estimate the protein content of brown rice from leaf-color of flag leaf at dough stage. Brown rice in Sakata city, Yahata town and Turuoka city from 1999 to 2001 was classified using the border leaf-color value 32 that corresponded to 75 g kg-1 of protein content. By this method, it was possible to classify the brown rice with a 5.4 to 7.8 g kg-1 difference in protein content.
