Pressure Parboiling Process Parameters for Production of Puffed Rice: Optimization and Protocol Standardization

Rice occupies a predominant position among cereals of the world and more than half of the world?s population is dependent on rice as a staple food. At least 114 countries grow rice and more than 50 have an annual production of 100,000 tonnes or more. The puffing process can be broadly classified as atmospheric pressure process with sudden application of heat and pressure drop process. There are a large number of parameters that affect the degree of expansion of these cereals, which are connected both with the compositional characteristics of the raw material and the processing conditions. The main factors which affect puffing are puffing-temperature, puffing-duration, initial moisture content of the material to be puffed and also starch content of the raw materials. The goal of this study was to review in detail the influence of the conditions of hydro-thermal treatment of rice on the characteristic of rice as well as the puffed rice.