Influence of Acid Treatment on Physicochemical Properties of Aged Rice Flour

This study investigated the influence of citric acid and ascorbic acid solutions (0.0–0.9% w/w) on the physicochemical properties of 12 month aged rice flour (aged) using 0.7 month rice flour (fresh) as the reference. The results showed that rice storage did not affect the chemical composition. However, 12 month aged rice flour showed an increase in formation of disulfide bonds and amylose-lipid complexes which could restrict starch granules from swelling during gelatinization. Moreover, 12 month aged rice flour showed an increase in gelatinization temperature and enthalpy. Acid treatment did not break the formed disulfide bond but reduced the protein content in the acid-treated 12 month aged rice flour producing a significant increase in granular swelling and thus increased peak viscosity (p ≤ 0.05) but caused a reduction in retrogradation. The excess concentration (0.9% w/w acid solution) induced granule rupture. Aging of rice also affected the textural properties of freeze-thaw gels, increasing the hardness value but this was reduced by the addition of acids.