Correia, PaulaAlves, MarianaLemos, DiogoGuiné, Raquel2014-06-022014-06-022014Correia PMR, Alves M, Lemos D, Guiné RPF. (2014) Contribution for physical characterization of aromatic rice. 7th CeFood – Central European Congress on Food, Orhid, Macedónia, p. 117http://hdl.handle.net/10400.19/2186Introduction: Rice is consumed mainly as whole grain, and quality considerations are much more important than for any other food crop. Rice grain quality preference varies from country to country and among regions. Nowadays, aromatic rice varieties are playing a vital role in global rice trading, and also in Portugal. The economic value of rice depends on its cooking and processing quality, such us water uptake ratio, cooking time and texture properties. Materials and methods: Three types of aromatic rice were collected and analysed for biometry characteristics, cooking time, water absorption, and texture properties.The rice grains were collected from the Portuguese trade market. Biometric characteristics of all rice grains were evaluated by S21 (LKL) and C-300 (Kett) colorimeter. The rice flour texture was performed by a TPA (texture profile analysis), giving information about adhesiveness, chewiness, gumminess, hardness, resilience and cohesiveness. The extrusion force was also determined according to ISO 11747:2012. Results: Rice samples are commercially classified as long grains B type, because they presented a length higher than 6 mm and the ratio length/width higher than 3. The samples presented a high degree of whiteness, with a strictly relationship between the total and vitrea whiteness (r2=0.95). The cooking time varied from 12 to 17 minutes and this properties was strongly related with water uptake (from 155.7 – 209.1 g). Generally, aromatic rice cultivars presented different textural properties. Aromatic rice samples are different for hardness, adhesiveness, gumminess, resilience and extrusion force. Conclusions: From the results obtained it was concluded that the studiedc aromatic rice cultivars presented different physical properties, mainly the cooking time, water uptake and texture. These differences could be a commercial advantage considering the consumer point of view, because the enterprise could provide a specific aromatic rice in order to attend different consumer targets.engaromatic ricebiometric characteristicscooking timewater absorptionconference object