Abstract
In rice mills on the Caspian Sea coast in the Islamic Republic of Iran, prior to milling process, paddy moisture content is surprisingly reduced to the level of 6-8% w. b. by a flat-bed dryer with a 3-day consecutive drying operation. By doing this, total milling recovery and head rice ratio are said to be improved.
This was confirmed by laboratory tests that a local variety ‘Tarom Shamsi’ at 14% w. b. paddy level was milled, total milling recovery was 66.0% and head rice ratio was 54.6%. In contrast, the paddy grain below 10% w. b was milled, these figures were remarkably improved to 70.4% and 68.7% respectively. Furthermore, rice grain color, cracked rice ratio, split rice on submergence, etc. are also discussed.
