Effects of Frozen Storage and Thawing Conditions on Physical Properties of Glutinous Rice: (Part 2) Rheological Measurement

Abstract

The effects of the freezing process and frozen storage periods on rheological parameters of freshly cooked and freeze-thawed glutinous rice have been investigated. Cooked glutinous rice (cv. Koganemochi) was frozen and stored in a household freezer at -20°C for 1, 5, 10, 30 and 60 days. After steaming and natural thawing processes, creep-recovery test (0.1N, small deformation), texture profile analysis (TPA) test (50% deformation) and the tensile testing (20N, 100% deformation) were performed on one-grain and block-shaped glutinous rice respectively by a rheometer, to measure the rheological parameters of the samples. One-grain samples showed more significant differences with freshly cooked rice in tensile testing, while block-shaped ones showed more in creep recovery tests. There were few significant differences in any fracture characteristics and viscoelastic properties between steaming and natural thawing methods for both block-shaped and one-grain samples in each storage period. The TPA results demonstrated that natural thawing method would produce softer as well as less sticky glutinous rice products during 60-day frozen storage.