Study of Processing and Shelf Life Determination of Parboiled Rice in Plastic Film Packaging

Abstract

Parboiled rice has a high nutrient content and low glycemic index value, therefore, it is suitable to be consumed by people suffering diabetes mellitus. The purpose of this study was to study parboiled rice processing technique, examine its physico-chemical characteristics, and determine the shelf life of the parboiled rice during storage. The processing of parboiled rice is by soaking grain in 60 oC temperature for 6 hours, steaming at a temperature of 90 oC for 30 minutes, drying until the grain moisture content to 12-14%, milling and packaging. Determination of parboiled rice shelf life was done by using the critical moisture and Arrhenius methods in polypropylene (PP) and low density polyethylene (LDPE) plastics film packaging. The results showed that the treatment was able to increase the yield of milled parboiled rice, ash content, protein content and fat content, but it also decreased amylase and carbohydrate content. However, the physical quality of parboiled rice was still lower compared to that of the control based on head rice and broken rice contents. The shelf life of parboiled rice stored in LDPE and PP packaging by using the method of critical moisture at 84% RH and a temperature of 30% was 21.73 months and 26.43 months. Whereas the method of Arrhenius in LDPE and PP packaging based on the parameter of TBA (thiobarbituric acid) values at a temperature of 30oC was 10.55 and 13.13 months.