Physicochemical and Cooking Quality of Rice Genotypes

Even though rice production is expanding in Ethiopia, very little information is available on the grain quality of rice. The objective of this study was, therefore, to determine the physicochemical and cooking qualities of rice genotypes. The physicochemical analysis of 15 rice genotypes conducted at the food and nutrition Laboratory of Bahirdar University showed that most of the genotypes had high to intermediate amylose content, which showed the susceptibility of the genotypes for stickiness. The cooking time of the 15 rice genotypes ranged from 12 to 30 minutes and the loss of solid during cooking was from 1.94 to 5.31%. Nonsignificant (P < 0.05) difference was found in grain elongation in most of the genotypes. Optimum cooking time was positively correlated with the water uptake ratio, alkali spread value and ash content. This shows that the presence of minerals elongate the cooking period. Gel consistency had positively correlated with alkali spread value but it had negatively correlated to ash, water uptake ratio and optimum cooking time. Generally, it was found that some genotypes had favorable grain quality and good correlation with most important characteristics. Even though good cooking characteristics were found in some of the genotypes, it is highly recommended to characterize more genotypes and improve important cooking quality traits of rice in Ethiopia.