Characteristics of local rice flour (MR 220) produced by wet and dry milling methods

Rice flour produced by wet milling and dry milling process were evaluated in terms of physical, functional, chemical and nutritional properties. The local paddy variety MR 220 were milled and processed into rice flour. Dry-milled rice flour was produced by dry milling using air-isolating cyclone machine. For wet milling process, the rice was wet cleaning and soaked with water before grinding. The particle size distribution of flour showed that a higher percentage of particles were retained on the smaller meshes. Statistical results indicated that wet-milled flour (L = 92.54) is significantly lighter in colour than dry-milled (L = 97.12). The bulk density ranged between 0.62 – 0.93 g/ml. The moisture contents of flour were in the range of 6.2 – 8.8% wet basis and the water and oil absorption capacity were between 0.7 – 1.2 g/g and 0.5 – 0.8 g/g respectively. Protein and fat contents of dry-milled was significantly higher than those of wet-milled. Both flour had appreciable amount of mineral and vitamin contents. There was also higher degree of starch damage in dry-milled rice flour. Quality evaluation indicated that quality of rice flour varied and may influence by the milling processes.