Effect of soaking and cooking on structure formation of cooked rice through thermal properties, dynamic viscoelasticity, and enzyme activity.

The quality of cooked rice and its influence factors have always been the focus of researches. However, the formative mechanisms of its eating quality and structural changes of rice during cooking have seldom been evaluated. In this study, sectional real-time cooking was performed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic viscoelasticity analysis to monitor the phase transitions and mechanical changes of kernels, which exhibited different characteristics in different stages. Both glass transition and pasting behavior were captured, and showed more viscoelasticity of cooked rice at higher soaking temperatures. Meanwhile, the enzyme activity of rice during soaking was successfully measured by a rapid viscosity analyzer (RVA). Along with the differences of morphologies and crystalline structure at different soaking conditions, the findings of DSC and rheometer were further verified. This study provides effective methods to evaluate changes in rice during cooking and explains the mechanism of differences formed by the soaking temperature.