Effects of milling on proximate composition, folic acid, fatty acids and technological properties of rice

In an effort to meet consumer demands, the rice industries have intensified the milling process to produce whiter rice, using degrees of milling between 8% and 14%. However, this technique reduces the nutritional value of rice. This work is the first study to evaluate effects of milling on the folic acid content and fatty acid composition of rice. Moreover, the present work also evaluates the proximate composition, amylose content and technological properties of rice as a function of the degree of milling. The results showed a 72.23%, 41.60% and 65.23% decrease in the content of folic acid, ash and fat, respectively, even when only 8% degree of milling was used. The lightness of the rice increased as a function of the degree of milling. The fatty acid content decreased with the fat reduction while the fatty acid profile did not change with an increase in the degree of milling. The grain cooking time, hardness and adhesiveness, as well as the protein, fibre and amylose contents varied between brown and milled rice but did not differ among the rice samples milled to different degrees (8–14%).