Classification of Rice Quality in the Market in the Offing
The reason for this is that even as millertraders normally do not attain the right mix of quality rice, they still label them as Sinandomeng or IR64, two popular brands of rice in the market that command higher prices. Normally, millertraders mix the grains of different varieties with seemingly similar physical attributes like size and appearance. However, they do not have a way of determining the amylose content of their grains. Their primary goal is just to get as much profits as they could.
According to rice chemists, the amylose content of the rice grain determines to a great extent the texture of rice when cooked. Grains with high amylose content are a lot harder than those with intermediate amylose content when cooked.
In a study on rice in the market that was conducted by national scientist and PhilRice senior consultant Dr. Bienvenido O. Juliano and PhilRice researchers A.D.R. Felix, R.V Manaois, and Evelyn H. Bandonil, rice with intermediate amylose content predominate over those with high amylose content.
“Some milled rices labeled as IR64 or Sinandomeng turned out to be hard and fluffy when cooked,” the researchers reported.
As a result, they have proposed a market classification system for rice so that miller-traders would get the right mix of grains and satisfy consumer demand. If fully implemented, consumers would be assured of the quality of rice they are buying.
The classification scheme calls for clustering of rice varieties based on their physical characteristics, physicochemical properties, eating quality, and cooked rice texture. However, the researchers saw the need to refine a promising procedure for testing amylose in the field the stability of grain staining.
