Instant rice porridge produced through cooking, drying and a series of other processes possesses inferior sensory quality which is related to the gelatinization and retrogradation of rice starch. The effects of different enzyme treatments including α-amylase, β-amylase and neutral protease and different drying methods including hot air drying, freeze drying and freeze-hot air drying on gelatinization and retrogradation of instant rice porridge were investigated in this work utilizing rapid viscosity analyzer (RVA), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). As for enzyme treatments, rice porridge treated by α-amylase demonstrated the lowest viscosity value and the greatest porosity which suggested that α-amylase exceeded other two enzymes in maintaining gelatinization, inhibiting retrogradation and facilitating rehydration of instant rice porridge. For different drying methods, it was found that freeze drying was most advantageous to maintain gelatinization with the lowest viscosity and the greatest porosity. This study is especially helpful to gain initial insight into the development of instant rice porridge processing technology.Keywords: enzyme treatments, drying methods, instant rice porridge, gelatinization, retrogradation *To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: xiao@tju.edu.cn
IntroductionWith the accelerating pace of modern life, people's demand for convenience foods has become more and more pressing. Instant rice porridge is a kind of convenience foods which is made of rice through cooking, drying and a series of other processes. At present, a few instant rice porridge products are available on the market, but one major problem still exists, namely, the inferior sensory quality compared with traditional freshly cooked rice porridge. The inferior sensory quality of instant rice porridge includes long rehydration time and hard texture which affects consumer acceptability and blocks the promotion of instant rice porridge.The sensory quality of instant rice porridge is related to the gelatinization and retrogradation of rice starch, which is a major component of rice, accounting for more than 70% of the total weight. Gelatinized rice starch tends to retrograde during the drying and cooling process (Miles et al., 1985), thus affects the rehydration of instant rice porridge.Literature can be reviewed concerning the effect of