Background. Many studies have revealed the susceptibility of long grain rice to breaking during milling, while others have demonstrated the variation in the yield of head rice due to different rough rice drying methods. Thus, this study aims to determine appropriate drying and milling methods to improve the head rice yield and nutritional quality of long grain rice. Materials and methods. A series of drying experiments were performed on rough paddy rice employing shallow bed, oven and sun drying methods. Then, the dried rough rice grains were milled with various dehusking (H), separation (S) and polishing (P) configurations to obtain white rice. The resulting batches of white rice were analyzed and compared in terms of head rice yield, broken rice yield, brewer yield, whiteness and nutritional quality. Results. Milling configurations strongly affected the total, head rice, broken rice and brewer yields. The configuration of one dehusking, one separation and one polishing (H -S -P) resulted in the highest milling and head rice yields. Although the whiteness of the rice samples was significantly affected by the milling configuration, their values fell within an acceptable range preferred by consumers in Southeast Asia (39-47). The milling of dried rough rice obtained from shallow bed and sun drying using a concrete floor and white tarpaulin resulted in a comparable total (65%) and head rice yield (51%). However, the milling of rough rice dried using an oven and sun drying on black tarpaulin resulted in a slightly lower total yield (64.50%) and head rice yield (50.50%). The moisture, ash, protein and lipid contents of the white rice were significantly lower than those of manually dehulled rice, whereas the carbohydrate and amylose contents of the white rice were significantly higher. Conclusion. Application of shallow bed or sun drying on a concrete floor followed by milling with the H -S -P configuration produced the highest head rice yield with an acceptable whiteness and nutritional composition. These combined postharvest technologies are simple, efficient and economical for both small-and large-scale applications. Further research on consumer acceptance and on the nutritional and cooking qualities of the white rice obtained from these combined postharvest technologies is essential.

With regard to its high carbohydrate and gum contents, durian seed flour has been used as a substitute to wheat flour in butter cake and cookies manufactures. Unfortunately, processing of fruit seeds into flour may be hampered by discoloration, which may affect the nutrition and sensory quality of the food products. The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of soaking time on the physicochemical and functional properties of durian seed flour. Durian seed chips were soaked in 0.6% w/v sodium metabisulfite solution as anti-browning agent at 30°C for desired periods (40, 60, 80, 100, 120 minutes), followed by drying at 50°C for 17 hours, milling and sieving to obtain flour. The flour was analyzed for its moisture, ash, protein, fat and carbohydrate contents, sulfite residue, yield, gelatinization temperature, and water and oil absorption capacities (WAC and OAC). The results showed that longer soaking time reduced the moisture and ash content of durian seed flour, but increased most of the other studied parameters. The WAC, OAC and fat content were less affected by soaking time. It can be concluded that soaking of durian seed chips in sodium metabisulfite solution can improve the nutrition and functional properties of flour. Based on the residual sulfite content, durian seed flour obtained in this work is safe for consumption.

Durian (Durio zibethinus Murr.) is one of the most popular seasonal fruits in South East Asia, mainly Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. After consuming of the fruit pulp, the abundant durian seeds are usually disposed. However, they can be eaten after being boiled, roasted, baked, fried or cooked. Unfortunately, there is no sufficient information on the innovative utilizations of the durian seeds as raw materials in the preparation of modern foods. This study aims to characterize the functional and thermal properties of native and fermented durian seed flour obtained from submerged fermentation of durian seed chips using Lactobacillus plantarum, so that this information can be used as the basis in the development of functional foods. The effect of solid consistency (5 -25% w/v), inoculum size (2.5 -15% w/v) and time (0 -40 h) on the swelling power, water solubility, water absorption capacity, oil absorption capacity, carbonyl and carboxyl content, degree of substitution and gelatinization temperature of the flour were investigated. Fermentation was found to alter all of the functional and thermal properties of durian seed flour. Although fermentation increased the gelatinization temperature and oil absorption capacity of durian seed flour, their value were still lower than that of wheat flour. Based on the carboxyl group content and degree of substitution, the fermented durian seed flour obtained from fermentation of durian seed chips at 15% w/v solid consistency and 5% v/v inoculums size for 24 h is safe for consumption. Fermented durian seed flour exhibits similar functional properties to that of wheat flour and offers its superiority and high potential applications in the food industry over wheat flour due to its high fiber content (8.50 ±0.26%), but low fat content (0.63 ±0.03%). However, rigorous research should be conducted to ensure the acceptability and practical implementation of fermented durian seed flour as raw material for the manufacture of bread, cookies, cake and noodle.

Rice has played its important role as the world’s major source of food for human and animals. In order to sustain the food supply, many efforts have been conducted to increase the production of paddy rice per acre. The management of highly moist paddy rice during the harvesting period for preserving the paddy rice quality, increase in yield and reduce postharvest losses is greatly challenging. Drying process is one of the postharvest technologies for preserving the quality and extending the storage time of paddy rice. Moisture is removed to retard the development of a favorable environment for growth of molds and insects that lead to cause spoilage. In this paper, an experimental work and development of a simple mathematical model in a fixed bed drying of highly moist paddy rice have been conducted. Effect of bed thickness (6 cm to 12 cm) on the paddy rice drying rate was investigated by flowing drying air at 5.5 m/s with 37.45 % relative humidity at 40°C for 10 to 130 minutes. Drying of paddy rice using 8 cm bed thickness for 60 minutes was found to be the best drying condition to obtain acceptable moisture content of paddy rice for safe storage. The proposed non-equilibrium has shown its suitability for predicting the moisture content of paddy rice with variation of height of a fixed bed under unsteady state conditions. The drying rate constant was found to be a logarithmic function of bed thickness.