Study of the Targeted Regulation of Rice Drying Characteristics and Quality

Abstract

As the pre-process of storage and processing, rice drying is a key link to ensuring grain quality. A scientific and reasonable drying process can maintain grain quality and realize grain loss reduction, energy savings, and emission reduction. By establishing the response surface (RSM) regression model, the relationship between various experimental factors and quality indicators was analyzed, and the reasons for the results were explained. The optimized parameter combination was a hot air temperature of 43.14 °C, hot air humidity of 48.00%, initial moisture content of 23.80%, hot air velocity of 0.70 m/s, and hysteresis ratio of 3.55. Under this parameter combination, the drying characteristics (net drying time = 157.61 min, germination rate = 94.15%), processing quality (burst waist increase rate = 3.48%, whole rice rate = 70.458%), and nutritional quality (fatty acid value = 20.93 mg, resistant starch concentration = 195.26 μg/g, protein content change = 8.53 g/100 g, fat content change = 2.37 g/100 g) of rice after drying improved. The relative error between the validation results and the optimized results was 4.68%, indicating that the optimized process parameters can improve the efficiency and quality of rice drying. According to the regression model, the process reference chart with the process retrieval and prediction function was drawn, and the corresponding high-quality control scheme was given, providing a reference for the parameter settings of actual drying operations. The optimized drying process parameter combination effectively reduced the moisture gradient inside rice grains, drying stress, and the occurrence of cracks, thereby improving the appearance, quality and nutritional value of rice after drying. Moreover, the process reference chart can provide a reference for the actual preliminary processing technology of rice after production and a theoretical basis for an in-depth exploration of the mechanism of changes in rice quality.