Physicochemical properties of powdered, soft and hard type rice flour by different milling methods

This study investigated the physicochemical properties of three different types of rice flour prepared via dry and wet milling. The powder, soft, and hard-types of rice flour were Suwon No. 542, Suwon No. 541, and Unbong No. 30, respectively. The analysis of the proximate compositions of the different types of rice flour showed that their moisture content was 7.03~7.99%, their crude protein was 7.94~8.35%, their crude lipid was 0.71~1.49% and their crude ash was 0.25~0.82%. For the Hunter’s color values, the L value was highest in the wet-milled rice flour, the a value was highest in the dry-milled rice flour, and the b value was highest in the dry-milled rice flour. All the samples showed distinctive rice starch particles in the particle analysis using scanning electron microscope. The dry-milled rice flour showed the greatest amount of irregular particles and the coarsest texture. The water absorption and water solubility indices were higher in the wet-milled soft- and hard-type rice flour. The crystallinities of the samples by X-ray diffractography were all A-type, but the crystallinity of the dry-milled hard-type rice flour was higher in diffraction degree. For the amylogram properties, the wet-milled soft-type rice flour showed the highest maximum viscosity, breakdown and setback. In the meanwhile, the dry-milled soft-type rice flour showed the highest initial pasting temperature, onset, peak, and end temperatures despite of the reverse enthalpy.