Thai non-broken rice has been mainly used for the production of awamori after 2010. It is more difficult to absorb water ideally than for Thai broken rice, which has been mainly used for a long time. This difficulty in absorption for Thai non-broken rice has recently demanded on immediate solution. In the present study, to obtain the basic knowledge for improving the absorption of Thai non-broken rice, we examined the suitability of Thai rice used for awamori production compared with
Nipponbare, which is used for sake making. The property of Thai rice starch by RVA analysis was significantly different from that of
Nipponbare. The water absorption ratio of rice showed a negative correlation with the moisture of rice grains in both Thai rice and
Nipponbare. However, the ratio of water absorption of Thai rice was lower than that of
Nipponbare, when the moisture of the rice was same. The speed of water absorption was significantly improved by pulverizing the rice grains when the steeping time was short. Two steamings also significantly improved the ratio of water absorption of steamed rice and enzyme digestibility. From the above results, we recommend that prevention of an increase in the moisture of rice grains is important to deal with Thai rice appropriately. Also, sufficient steeping time, or two steamings are effective to achieve the ideal ratio of water absorption when using Thai rice.
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