Functional, Cooking, Sensory and Microbial Properties of FARO 44 Brown Rice as Affected by Milling and Germination

Germinated brown rice (GBR) was produced from FARO 44 rice cultivar by sterilizing the paddy in sodium hypochlorite solution, steeping it in potable water and germination of the de-husked grain. Germination temperatures were maintained at 30 and 40oC for 12 and 36 h. The mould content, functional, cooking and sensory properties of the GBR were compared to non-germinated brown rice (BR) and non-germinated parboiled milled rice (MR) which were used as controls. The results showed that germination temperatures did not significantly affect (p<0.05) the parameters analyzed. The germinating conditions did not encourage the growth of moulds. The foaming capacity (55.73%), foam stability (43.11%), water absorption capacity (1.24 g/g), and oil absorption capacity (1.07 g/g) of BR did not differ significantly (p<0.05) from that of MR but they increased significantly in GBR to the range of 66.43-73.05%, 60.48-74.715%, 2.15-2.88 g/g, and 1.95-3.08 g/g respectively. These values were significantly higher (p<0.05) at germination duration of 36 h than 12 h. The bulk density (0.93 g/cm3) and swelling power (6.78 g/g) of BR did not differ from that of MR but they decreased significantly (p<0.05) in GBR to the range of 0.61-0.90 g/cm3 and 2.67-4.70 g/g respectively. Much significantly lower (p<0.05) values were obtained at a germination duration of 36 h. The cooking time was least in MR (11.0 min) against BR (18.0 min) and GBR (12.0-15.0 min), and the water uptake ratio (g water/ g rice) was also least in MR (2.00) against BR (2.19) and GBR (2.20-2.37). MR and GBR germinated for 12 h were accepted while BR was rejected.