Background: The indigenous rice varieties of India are cultivated and utilized by tribal peoples as well as people in the distant regions with traditional culture. The main aim of the research work was to explore the inherit beneficial characteristics of traditional rice cultivars over hybrid varieties. Methods: The research work was aimed to investiagate the physicochemical and phytochemicals characteristics in traditional red rice cultivars (Mapillai Samba and Karungkuruvai) and traditional white rice cultivars (IR 20 and Improved White Ponni). The different treatments used in the study were raw rice (unpolished, polished) and parboiled rice (unpolished, polished). The interaction between physicochemical characteristics and phytochemicals were evaluated using Pearson correlation and Principal component analysis. Result: The physicochemical characteristics were analyzed for all the rice cultivars. It was observed that parboiled-unpolished mapillai samba showed highest length, breadth, 1000 grain weight. The raw rice cultivars showed highest phytochemicals than parboiled rice. The total phenolic, total flavonoids and total anthocyanin contents were highest for the mapillai samba (raw rice-unpolished). Among different traditional rice cultivars, mapillai samba showed significantly higher antioxidant levels. The results of the study suggested that these traditional rice cultivars can be incorporated in value added products.

There is a demand for Palmyra palm (Borassus flabellifer) tender endosperm (Taal; Nungu) in the off season due to its health benefits. To extend the shelf life of Palmyra palm Tender Fruit Endosperm (PTFE) it was thermally processed. The versatile retort processing technology was used to increase the shelf life. Processed tender endosperm packed in transparent retort pouches (TRP) and nontransparent retort pouches (NTRP) were evaluated for textural, color, microbial, and sensorial properties. Heat penetration tests and F- values were also determined. Processed tender endosperm was compared with fresh endosperm and there was a shelf life of 6 months under ambient storage conditions (30-32°C). The process time to reach lethality in nontransparent pouches (14.03 min) was higher than that in transparent pouches (13.02 min) and the difference may be due to the layer addition of packaging material. Textural profile analysis revealed that hardness, gumminess, and chewiness decreased when the processing and storage time was increased. The sensory score obtained similar results to the textural analysis (Hardness value of TRP:5.063kgfand NTRP: 4.58kgf); succulence and toughness decreased over the prolonged processing time. The tender endosperm in metalized retort pouches scored higher (7.9 as overall acceptability) than that in transparent retort pouches (7.8 as overall acceptability) in terms of sensory analysis. Retorted pouches were microbiologically safe until 6 months with the absence of Clostridium, Staphylococcus and Salmonella spp.The present experiment on shelf life extension of Palmyra tender endosperm (Nungu) helps in preserving the perishable healthy delicacy for more months and also enables to fetch higher income for the farmers with minimal investment.