Abstract
Rice landraces in Myanmar show a wide range of variation in amylose content from 0 to 40%. A great diversity was observed in amylose content of rice landraces especially from such mountainous states as Chin, Kachin and Shan. The frequent appearance of very low (less than 4%) amylose landraces indicates some cultural influence of the waxy rice zone extending from Thailand, Laos to Vietnam. In Myanmar, rice is usually classified into four groups based on stickiness and texture of cooked rice as Kauk Hnyin, Kauk Sei, Kauk Chaw, and Kauk Kyan. The four Myanmar names signify waxy (glutinous), sticky, soft, and hard rice and their amylose contents are non, low, medium and high respectively according to our preliminary examination. In the two mountainous states of Chin and Shan presently surveyed, the second (sticky) group Kauk Sei is the most popular and taken as daily meals by local people. The waxy group Kauk Hnyin is ubiquitously distributed throughout the country, but the Kauk Sei predominantly appeared at the mountainous regions in Myanmar. The present authors attempted to classify cooked or processed rice products into seven categories namely cooked rice, cake, dough product, fritter, noodle, pudding and drink. Each category includes several or more different cooked or processed products. The amylose contents of Myanmar rice landraces are thought to be varied by diverse cooking methods or processing ways of rice.
