Effects of protein oxidation on gelatinization characteristics during rice storage

Abstract

Gliadin and glutelin are major rice storage proteins. In this study, we evaluated changes in these proteins to determine the influence of pasting properties on rice storage. Notably, the physical and chemical properties of these proteins changed steadily. We analyzed protein oxidation indexes and determined correlations between the protein oxidation index and gelatinization property index. The results showed that significant oxidation of gliadin and glutelin occurred during the process of rice storage (P < 0.05). Protein oxidation had a significant impact on pasting properties. For glutelin, changes in the structure and function of the protein during rice storage had a significant impact on the five rice pasting property indexes, including peak viscosity (PV), holding strength (HS), breakdown, final viscosity (FV), and setback (SB; P < 0.05). In particular, the levels of carbonyl compounds and active sulfur and the surface hydrophobicity of glutelin were significantly correlated with rice pasting property indexes (P < 0.05). However, gliadin only significantly affected three indexes, i.e., PV, HS, and FV (P < 0.05). Thus, these findings suggested that the carbonyl compounds, active sulfur, and surface hydrophobicity of glutelin could be used as sensitive indexes for changes in rice quality evaluation.