Characterization of a novel folic acid‐fortified ready‐to‐eat parboiled rice

Abstract

AbstractBackground and objectivesA low‐amylose rice, chokuwa, known for yielding no‐cooking rice on parboiling, is subjected to brown rice parboiling. During the soaking step, brown rice was soaked in aqueous solutions of folic acid (FA) at five different concentrations (0.25–4.0 g/L). FA‐fortified parboiled rice was milled for 30 and 60 s and investigated for the effects of FA fortification and milling on product characteristics.FindingsFolic acid content in the unmilled fortified product was as high as 1.091 g/kg for FA concentration in soak water of 4.0 g/L. On rehydration for 25 min at 60°C, different products soften to hardness values of 152–172 g. A V‐type diffraction pattern was observed. Fortification improved the pasting properties, and a slight increase in yellowness was observed. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy revealed an O–H bond stretching at the band range of 3,000–3,600 cm−1, and a very small peak at the band range of 1,740–1,750 cm−1 which was attributed to C=O bond stretching.ConclusionsFortification elevated the total FA content in the parboiled product. The product retained its no‐cooking characteristics, and textural and physicochemical properties remain favorable with slight yellowing effects upon FA fortification.Significance and noveltyThe study suggests the approach as a pragmatic way to obtain FA‐fortified ready‐to‐eat rice to combat FA deficiency among needy people.