Including Amylose Content Research Articles

GWAS and Transcriptomic Analysis Identify OsRING315 as a New Candidate Gene Controlling Amylose Content and Gel Consistency in Rice

Cooking quality is the main factor determining the market value of rice. Although several major genes and a certain number of QTLs controlling cooking quality have been identified, the genetic complexity and environmental susceptibility limit the further improvement for cooking quality by molecular breeding. This research conducted a genome-wide association study to elucidate the QTLs related to cooking quality including amylose content (AC), gel consistency (GC) and alkali spreading value (ASV) by using 450 rice accessions consisting of 300 indica and 150 japonica accessions in two distinct environments. A total of 54 QTLs were identified, including 25 QTLs for AC, 12 QTLs for GC and 17 QTLs for ASV. Among them, 10 QTLs were consistently observed by the same population in both environments. Six QTLs were co-localized with the reported QTLs or cloned genes. The Wx gene for AC and GC, and the ALK gene for ASV were identified in every population across the two environments. The qAC9-2 for AC and the qGC9-2 for GC were defined to the same interval. The OsRING315 gene, encoding an E3 ubiquitin ligase, was considered as the candidate gene for both qAC9-2 and qGC9-2. The higher expression of OsRING315 corresponded to the lower AC and higher GC. Three haplotypes of OsRING315 were identified. The Hap 1 mainly existed in the japonica accessions and had lower AC. The Hap 2 and Hap 3 were predominantly present in the indica accessions, associated with higher AC. Meanwhile, the GC of accessions harboring Hap 1 was higher than that of accessions harboring Hap 3. In addition, the distribution of the three haplotypes in several rice-growing regions was unbalanced. The three traits of cooking quality are controlled by both major and minor genes and susceptible to environmental factors. The expression level of OsRING315 is related to both AC and GC, and this gene can be a promising target in quality improvement by using the gene editing method. Moreover, the haplotypes of OsRING315 differentiate between indica and japonica, and reveal the differences in GC and AC between indica and japonica rice.

Impacts of heat shock on productivity and quality of Triticum aestivum L. at different growth stages

The transitional phase of climate change is becoming a threat worldwide. Fluctuations in temperature are frequently observed in the life cycles of field crops. The current study was intended to evaluate heat stress (HS) at sensitive stages on four wheat cultivars’ growth, grain yield, and quality traits during two consecutive seasons. The experiment included four spring wheat cultivars that were exposed to HS durations (i.e., 0, 48, 96 and 144 h) at booting and anthesis stages. Pots were kept in an open-air, and labeled pots were moved to the glasshouse at the respective growth stage. After HS treatments, pots were moved from the glasshouse to the original position in the open air. The results showed that the cultivars differed in yield and grain quality traits, but their collective mean effect was significantly expressed with HS and HS duration (HSd) on the measured traits. Spike length was significantly affected by HS at the anthesis in comparison to those obtained from the control. However, the increase in HSd did not cause a significant effect on spike length compared to other treatments. Spike weight was significantly decreased in plants exposed to HS at booting and anthesis as well as by increasing HSd. In addition, grain weight and numbers were decreased in plants exposed to HS at booting and anthesis stages with a similar pattern by increasing HSd. Moreover, a reduction in amylose content was observed in grains of plants exposed to HS at booting and anthesis stages or when plants as exposed to a longer period of HSd. Nonetheless, amylopectin, wet gluten (WG) and grain N (GN) showed an increase in plants exposed to HS at booting and anthesis stages and/or extending HSd. This study concludes that plants exposed to different HS treatments during the life cycle had lower values for spike length, grains weight, and grains number per spike including amylose content in comparison to those obtained from the control. The decrease was significantly noted in the yield and grain quality of wheat when plants were exposed to HS at the booting stage in comparison to those exposed to HS at anthesis.

Mapping quantitative traits for grain physical and textural quality in Cambodian Jasmine rice PRD

Grain physical and textural traits are key parameters that are assessed in rice quality improvement programs. In order to dissect the genetic basis of the premium Cambodian quality rice Phka Rumduol (PRD), a population including more than 300 recombinant inbred lines derived from PRD and Thmar Krem was used to map quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for grain length (GL), grain width (GW), degree of chalkiness, grain translucency and texture-associated traits including amylose content (AC), gelatinisation temperature (GT), gel consistency and pasting properties derived from a rapid visco analyser. QTL analysis revealed large-effect QTLs and minor QTLs for these traits of quality, indicating a complex interplay between major and minor genes. The QTL located on chromosome 3 is the major locus for GL, and the one on chromosome 5 plays a major role in determining GW. A novel QTL for GL was identified on the short arm of chromosome 6 and explained about 20% of the phenotypic variation in GL. Grain translucency and chalkiness were largely controlled by QTLs on chromosome 5 and 6. Putative genes for texture-associated traits relate back to the starch biosynthesis pathways. Major QTLs for AC and GT colocalised to the Waxy and starch synthase IIa genes on chromosome 6, respectively. Minor QTLs on chromosomes 3 and 8 were identified for AC, setback, peak viscosity and hot-paste consistency, and on chromosomes 4 and 7 for GT and pasting temperature. This is the first QTL mapping study for the quality of Cambodian rice.

Development of elite restoring lines by integrating blast resistance and low amylose content using MAS

Blast resistance and grain quality are major problems in hybrid rice production in China. In this study, two resistance (R) genes, Pi46 and Pita, along with the gene Wxb, which mainly affects rice endosperm amylose content (AC), were introgressed into an elite indica restoring line, R8166, which has little blast resistance and poor grain quality through marker-assisted selection (MAS). Eight improved lines were found to have recurrent genome recovery ratios ranging from 88.68 to 96.23%. Two improved lines, R163 and R167, were selected for subsequent studies. R167, which has the highest recovery ratio (96.23%), showed no significant differences in multiple agronomic traits. In contrast, R163 with the lowest recovery ratio (88.68%) exhibited significant differences in heading date and yield per plant compared with the recurrent parent. At two developmental stages, R163 and R167 had greatly enhanced resistance to blast over the recurrent parent. Similar trends were also observed for agronomic traits and blast resistance in R163- and R167-derived hybrids when compared with the counterparts from R8166. In addition, R163, R167, and their derived hybrids significantly improved the grain quality traits, including amylose content (AC), gel consistency (GC), chalky grain rate (CGR), and degree of endosperm chalkiness (DEC). It confirmed the success of efficiently developing elite restoring lines using MAS in this study.

Physiochemical properties of rice starch for production of vermicelli with premium quality.

Rice vermicelli is a main food consumed in China and Southeast Asia. Quality of rice vermicelli varies with rice cultivars. Parameters including amylose content, amylopectin distribution, thermal and pasting characteristics, gel texture and starch granules of three rice cultivars "Zhongjiazao 17", "Xiangzaoxian 24" and "Thai Jasmine Rice", were studied for their impacts on vermicelli quality. Results showed significant differences for the measurements of the quality traits and indicated that a favorable quality of vermicelli was not determined by any single factor instead of a combination of multi-parameters. A vermicelli with a favorable quality could be produced from a rice variety with a high apparent amylose content (>25%), a protein content of 11%, an intermediate gelatinization temperature and gel consistency, and a gel hardness (~3N for a Rapid Viscosity Analyzer pasting) and moderate retrogradation capacity (a setback viscosity of 30-100RVU).

Genetic parameters and combining ability of some important traits in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

In order to study the combining ability, genetic parameters and gene actions of yield, yield components and quality characters in rice, fifteen F2 generation of a 6?6 diallel cross, excluding reciprocals, was grown in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications. The results of analysis of variance showed significant differences between the genotypes for grain yield (GY), 100-grain weight (HGW), number of panicles per plant (PN), panicle length (PL), number of full grains per panicle (FGN) and for quality characters including amylose content (AC) and gel consistency (GC). The results of combining ability analysis revealed that general combining ability (GCA) and specific combining ability (SCA) were significant for characters GY, FGN, GC, AC, HGW and PN indicating the involvement of additive and non-additive effects in their inheritance, however high amounts of Bakers ratio remarked that additive gene effect had more portion in controlling these traits. The best combiners for GY, HGW, FGN, PN and PL, were RI18447-2, IR 50, Daylamani, RI18430-46 and Daylamani respectively. For AC and GC, the best combiner was Daylamani. Hayman's graphs showed that regression line passed below the origin cutting Wr axis in the negative region for HGW, PN, PL and GC, indicating the presence of over dominance. Estimates of genetic parameters showed significant amount of H1 and H2, and non-significant amount of D for the characters GY, PN, PL and GC, which confirmed the existence of dominance in the inheritance of these traits.

Structural and functional characterization of starches from Brazilian pine seeds (Araucaria angustifolia)

Brazilian pine seeds (Araucaria angustifolia) or pinhão are popularly consumed in South America as a seasonal food. Pinhão of seven accessions were supplied by Brazilian Agricultural Research Corporation (Embrapa/Forestry) germplasm bank. Starch was isolated from those seeds and characterized. Structures and functional properties of starch, including amylose content, molecular weight (Mw) and gyration radius of amylopectin, amylopectin branch chain-length distribution, thermal and pasting properties, and in vitro digestibility were studied. The samples had significant differences on structures and functional properties. The pinhão starch consisted of considerable amounts of slowly digestible starch (SDS) and resistant starch (RS). Results obtained from this study are useful for developing new applications for pinhão, which is a promising ingredient for the health/nutraceutical food industry.

High throughput screening of starch structures using carbohydrate microarrays.

In this study we introduce the starch-recognising carbohydrate binding module family 20 (CBM20) from Aspergillus niger for screening biological variations in starch molecular structure using high throughput carbohydrate microarray technology. Defined linear, branched and phosphorylated maltooligosaccharides, pure starch samples including a variety of different structures with variations in the amylopectin branching pattern, amylose content and phosphate content, enzymatically modified starches and glycogen were included. Using this technique, different important structures, including amylose content and branching degrees could be differentiated in a high throughput fashion. The screening method was validated using transgenic barley grain analysed during development and subjected to germination. Typically, extreme branching or linearity were detected less than normal starch structures. The method offers the potential for rapidly analysing resistant and slowly digested dietary starches.

Quality assessment and molecular characterization of rice genotypes using DNA markers

ABSTRACT : Genetic relatedness among rice varieties were assessed using ten RAPD, two SSR and two STS markers. The 56 rice genotypes studied included improved varieties and landraces collected from different parts of India. The number of alleles per RAPD locus ranged from 3 to 7, averaging 4.7 alleles per locus. Polymorphism information content (PIC) values ranged from 0.474 to 0.811, with an average of 0.665. The number of alleles per SSR locus ranged from 2 to 4, averaging 2 alleles per locus and PIC values ranged from 0.069 to 0.278, with an average of 0.017. The band size for a given SSR locus varied between 170 bp and 180 bp and for STS markers the band size varied between 175bp to 180bp with an average pic value of 0.299. Characterization of the genotypes was also done for important quality parameters including amylose content, gel consistancyn and gelatinization temperature. Cluster analyses were used to group cultivars by constructing dendrograms based on DNA marker analysis and physicochemical characterization of grains. The dendrogram based on molecular marker analysis grouped the 56 rice cultivars into different diverse groups. Clustering of these varieties according to their genotypes as well as phenotypes revealed the possible linkage or pleiotropic effects of the genomic regions associated with some grain quality traits. Information generated through cluster analysis based on phenotypic and genotypic data could be efficiently used in breeding rice varieties harboring grain quality traits. Pure-line selection can be made using farmer varieties that are characterized morphologically and phenotypically in the study.

Variety Difference in Molecular Structure, Physico-chemical and Thermal Properties of Starches from Pigmented Rice

Abstract Starches isolated from three different pigmented rice varieties (Chak-hao Amubi, Chak-hao Poireiton, and Chak-hao Angangba) and investigated for their molecular structure and physico-chemical properties including amylose content, morphology, crystallinity, pasting viscosity, color, thermal property, swelling power and solubility. Significant differences were detected in physico-chemical and functional properties (p ≤0.05) of rice starches. The amylose content results revealed that Chak-hao Angangba (1.93 %) and Chak-hao Poireiton (1.98 %) are waxy rice, and Chak-hao Amubi (3.16 %) is a very low-amylose rice. The morphology of rice starch granules shown polyhedral edges with an irregular shape; and the XRD patterns of rice starches exhibited A-type crystalline patterns with peaks at 2θ=15.1°, 17.1°, 18.2° and 23.0°. Waxy rice starches shown higher peak viscosity and enthalpy with lower gelatinization temperatures than very low amylose rice starches. The pasting viscosity, swelling power and solubility crystallinity of rice starches were varied significantly (p ≤0.05). Finally, the present study provides knowledge for the utilization of starches isolated from three pigmented rice varieties grown in North-Eastern part of India that would be relevant for both domestic and industrial applications.

Physicochemical and drug release characteristics of acetylated starches of five Lagenaria siceraria cultivars

Modified starches play a crucial role in the pharmaceutical industries in controlling the drug release at a pre-determined rate. The effect of acetylation on the physicochemical and drug release characteristics of the starches from five different Indian L. siceraria cultivars was investigated. Starches isolated from the seeds of L. siceraria were subjected to varying degrees of acetylation. Using a range of characterization methods including amylose content, elemental analysis, light transmittance, swelling power, scanning electron microscopy, FT-IR and X-ray diffraction, the effect of acetylation was determined. The swelling power of starch acetates improved significantly (P<0.05) with the increase in degree of substitution. The increase in swelling shows that acetylation improved the accessibility of an amorphous area to the water. The formation of V-type of complex crystalline structures confirmed the acetylation of L. siceraria starch. Modification in the crystalline structure of starch acetate retarded the drug release, which is controlled by water uptake. The starch acetates from all the cultivars showed better sustained release properties with the increase in degree of substitution. Drug release through the swellable matrix was found to be controlled by fickian diffusion from the gel layer as indicated by Korsmeyer–Peppas models (R2) 0.9885–0.9984.

Significance of Starch Properties and Quantity on Sponge Cake Volume

ABSTRACTWe evaluated the qualitative and quantitative effects of wheat starch on sponge cake (SC) baking quality. Twenty wheat flours, including soft white and club wheat of normal, partial waxy, and waxy endosperm, as well as hard wheat, were tested for amylose content, pasting properties, and SC baking quality. Starches isolated from wheat flours of normal, single‐null partial waxy, double‐null partial waxy, and waxy endosperm were also tested for pasting properties and baked into SC. Double‐null partial waxy and waxy wheat flours produced SC with volume of 828–895 mL, whereas volume of SC baked from normal and single‐null partial waxy wheat flours ranged from 1,093 to 1,335 mL. The amylose content of soft white and club wheat flour was positively related to the volume of SC (r = 0.790, P &lt; 0.001). Pasting temperature, peak viscosity, final viscosity, breakdown, and setback also showed significant relationships with SC volume. Normal and waxy starch blends having amylose contents of 25, 20, 15, and 10% produced SCs with volume of 1,570, 1,435, 1,385, and 1,185 mL, respectively. At least 70 g of starch or at least 75% starch in 100 g of starch–gluten blend in replacement of 100 g of wheat flour in the SC baking formula was needed to produce SC having the maximum volume potential. Starch properties including amylose content and pasting properties as well as proportion of starch evidently play significant roles in SC baking quality of wheat flour.

Evaluation of three traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) starches and potential application in health product industry

Structural and functional properties of starches isolated from Ginkgo biloba L. (GBL), Angelica dahurica (Fisch. ex Hoffm.) Benth. et Hook. f. (ADB) and Bletilla sfriata (Thunb.) Reiehb. f. (BSR) have been studied using a range of characterization methods including amylose content, water-binding capacity, paste clarity, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and light microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), amylose leaching, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and in vitro digestion. Considerable differences in these properties were observed. Amylose content varied from 16.7% to 30.5%, while paste clarity was in the range of 8.03–25.3%. Moreover, the shape of starch granules varied from spherical, elliptical to irregular or polygonal with different sizes. ADB displayed a B-type pattern, while GBL and BSR showed a C-type pattern. In addition, amylose leaching (AML) varied linearly with temperature for BSR, while the AML of other samples increased gradually below 60 °C, but increased dramatically beyond 60 °C. The three starch samples had similar gelatinization temperature ranging from 63.0 to 76.7 °C, but showed lower enthalpy values (0.90–3.96 J/g) than most of conventional starch. GBL and ADB possessed much higher slowly digested starch (SDS) content in vitro digestion, which made them suitable candidates for dietary starch.

Discovery of a low-glycaemic index potato and relationship with starch digestion in vitro

Potatoes are usually a high-glycaemic index (GI) food. Finding a low-GI potato and developing a screening method for finding low-GI cultivars are both health and agricultural priorities. The aims of the present study were to screen the commonly used and newly introduced cultivars of potatoes, in a bid to discover a low-GI potato, and to describe the relationship between in vitro starch digestibility of cooked potatoes and their in vivo glycaemic response. According to International Standard Organisation (ISO) guidelines, seven different potato cultivars were tested for their GI. In vitro enzymatic starch hydrolysis and chemical analyses, including amylose content analysis, were carried out for each potato cultivar, and correlations with the respective GI values were sought. The potato cultivars had a wide range of GI values (53-103). The Carisma cultivar was classified as low GI and the Nicola cultivar (GI = 69) as medium GI and the other five cultivars were classified as high GI according to ISO guidelines. The GI values were strongly and positively correlated with the percentage of in vitro enzymatic hydrolysis of starch in the cooked potatoes, particularly with the hydrolysis percentage at 120 min (r 0·91 and P <0·01). Amylose, dietary fibre and total starch content was not correlated with either in vitro starch digestibility or GI. The findings suggest that low-GI potato cultivars can be identified by screening using a high-throughput in vitro digestion procedure, while chemical composition, including amylose and fibre content, is not indicative.

Effect of alkali treatment on structure and function of pea starch granules

The effect of alkaline treatment on the structural and functional properties of pea starch granules was studied using a range of characterization methods including amylose content, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), swelling power, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), the Rapid Visco Analyser (RVA) and in vitro digestibility. The amylose content decreased by about 20–25% after 15days of alkaline treatment and there were small decreases in relative crystallinity and double helix content. Deformations were observed on the surface of alkali-treated granules, and there was evidence of adhesion between some of the granules. There was a 25–30% reduction in peak and final RVA pasting viscosities, but only a small reduction in swelling power. The endothermic transition of alkali-treated starch was broadened with a shift of the endothermic peak to higher temperature. However, the endothermic enthalpy remained largely unaffected. Alkali-treatment greatly increased the rate of in vitro enzymatic breakdown of the pea starch. More prolonged alkaline treatment for 30days did not cause further significant changes to the structural and functional properties of the starch granules. The effects of alkali on structure and function of pea starch are explained on the basis of limited gelatinization of the granules.

The QTL analysis on maternal and endosperm genome and their environmental interactions for characters of cooking quality in rice (Oryza sativa L.)

Investigations to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) governing cooking quality traits including amylose content, gel consistency and gelatinization temperature (expressed by the alkali spread value) were conducted using a set of 241 RIL populations derived from an elite hybrid cross of "Zhenshan 97"x"Minghui 63" and their reciprocal backcrosses BC1F1 and BC2F1 populations in two environments. QTLs and QTLxenvironment interactions were analyzed by using the genetic model with endosperm and maternal effects and environmental interaction effects on quantitative traits of seed in cereal crops. The results suggested that a total of seven QTLs were associated with cooking quality of rice, which were subsequently mapped to chromosomes 1, 4 and 6. Six of these QTLs were also found to have environmental interaction effects.

The Source of Genes Related to Rice Grain Starch Synthesis Among Cultivated Varieties and Its Contribution to Quality

The property of starch in rice grain endosperm is a very important determinant for rice quality, and it is essential to understand the genetic effect of the genes related to starch synthesis in high-yielding rice varieties for rice quality improvement. The physicochemical properties (e.g., amylose content, gel consistency, and RVA profile) were assessed on 53 rice varieties, including certain typical indica/japonica landraces and certain high-yielding modern varieties. And molecular markers for Sbel, Sbe3 developed on the basis of sequence diversities between the rice subspecies indica and japonica, together with PCR- Acc I marker for Wx gene were used to investigate the genotypes of 53 rice cultivars. The result showed that the developed molecular markers for Wx, Sbel, Sbe3 could distinguish indica or japonica alleles at three loci. Among all the 53 rice cultivars, six genotypes were observed when Sbel, Sbe3, and Wx loci were considered together, while the genotypes of Wx i Sbel j Sbe3 i and Wx i Sbel j Sbe3 i were absent. In order to explore the genetic effects of the three genes, especially for starch branching enzyme genes, ANOVA and multiple comparison analysis were conducted. The results showed that rice cultivars with different genotypes exhibited different phenotypes, including amylose content, gel consistency and certain RVA characteristics, and the significant differences among the six genotypes were observed. It was concluded that these three genes had randomly recombined during the process of the rice variety development. And the genetic effects of indica and japonica alleles at three gene loci were different, of which, Wx gene plays a major role in determining the starch properties, followed by Sbel and Sbe3, and the genetic effects of Sbel and Sbe3 in different backgrounds ( Wx i, Wx j) are different. The results have provided a clue for rice good quality variety development, and the molecular markers will benefit to the improvement in quality of rice.

Starch Paste Stickiness is a Relevant Native Starch Selection Criterion for Wet‐end Paper Manufacturing

AbstractThe correct choice of selection and quality criteria is critical for most starch applications. In this study, a set of different potato starches, selected for a large variation in natural phosphate content and final viscosity, was cationised and tested in a laboratory scale wet‐end paper manufacturing process. Analysis of further parameters expected to be critical for processing, including amylose content and starch granule size, was also performed. Since no significant correlation was found between any of these parameters and paper processing, further attempts were made to find structural or physico‐chemical explanations for the paper processing performance. Hence, several additional parameters of the starches were determined including amylopectin chain length pattern, phosphate substitution, molecular size distribution, pasting‐texture properties and fragility of the gelatinised granules. Among these parameters, the best correlation found to paper filler retention was stickiness of the starch as measured by texture analysis. The starches that performed best in the paper trials showed rapid granule bursts that could be readily estimated from the width of the pasting curve peaks. Light microscopy of non‐soluble remnant starch obtained after gelatinisation of starch under dilute conditions revealed a high proportion of broken granular structures. It is hypothesised that the degree of phosphorylation, together with a hitherto unknown molecular parameter that is related to starch granule fragility, determines starch paste stickiness, which in turn is an important parameter for wet‐end paper manufacturing.

Analysis of the relationship between Wx alleles and some starch quality parameters of rice (Oryza sativa L.)

The usefulness of (CT) n microsatellite markers of Wx gene in rice starch quality improvement is demonstrated in this paper with 36 F 2 plants derived from the cross between Longtefu A (Wx 1 1 Wx 1 1 ) and 371 (Wx 1 8 Wx 1 8 ). The F 2 plants could be divided into three groups according to the microsatellite marker, i.e. that of Wx 1 1 Wx 1 1 group, Wx 1 1 Wx 1 8 group and Wx 1 8 Wx 1 8 group. The F 3 seeds with the same Wx alleles were bulked to test the starch quality parameters which implied that only the Wx allele was different among the bulked samples while the genetic background was identical. Results indicated that all the starch quality parameters including amylose content (AC), gelatinization temperature (GT), gel consistency (GC) and starch paste viscosity parameters were related significantly to the Wx alleles. However, the amylopectin structure of each group had no relation to the Wx allele. This study indicated that early selections in rice breeding based on Wx microsatellite marker would improve the starch quality.

Factor analysis of physicochemical properties of 63 rice varieties

AbstractA set of 63 Chinese‐adapted non‐waxy rice varieties of the indica and japonica subspecies was measured to extract simple indicators for rice quality evaluation. Approximate methods including amylose content (AC), gel consistency (GC), gelatinisation temperature (as measured by alkali spreading value, ASV), protein content, etc and instrumental methods including differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), viscoamylography (with a Rapid Visco‐Analyser, RVA) and texture profile analysis were adopted. Four sets of data, ie ordinary testing, flour pasting property, texture of the cooled flour gel, and visual appearance of whole milled grain and flour, were obtained and analysed for mutual relationships. Wide variations were observed in most of the measurements, eg AC (ranging from 6.3 to 28.2%), gelatinisation temperature (Tp, 65.8–83.0 °C), protein content (7.2–13.5%), pasting (peak viscosity, 92–319 RVU) and texture (hardness, 2.5–24.4 g) properties and grain appearance (grain length, 4.8–8.4 mm), to mention a few. Significant correlations were also detected among the four sets of data of the rice varieties, such as AC versus SB (setback viscosity) with a correlation coefficient of −0.73, AC versus HRD (gel hardness) of 0.73, HRD versus FRC (gel fracturability) of 0.99, etc. Generally, the instrumental measurements including DSC, pasting and texture properties were highly correlated with the three ordinarily used indicators of rice quality, ie AC, GC and ASV. However, there was a lack of correlation between pasting properties and textural parameters, implying effects on gel texture of retrogradation of starch after cooling of the paste. Six factors were computed by principal component factor analysis that explained 80% of the variation in the traits, among which amylose content‐related (30.8%), gelatinisation temperature‐related (14.9%) and grain appearance‐related (11.1%) factors were most important. Gel pasting properties evaluated by RVA, and flour colour played less important roles in explaining total variation (accounting for a combined 23% of the eigenvalue loading). This report can be used to identify predictive parameters for rapid screening of rice genotypes for eating quality.© 2002 Society of Chemical Industry