An integrated approach to rice-grain quality

Rice, the staple food of Asia, is consumed largely as cooked whole-milled (polished) grain. The texture preferred for cooked rice varies from region to region, from country to country and even from area to area within a country. The waxy rices (glutinous rices), very sticky and less expanding, because of 100 % amylopectin contents, are preferred in Laos and north and northeast Thailand, whereas the flaky high amylose rices are favored in most of tropical Asia except the Philippines and Indonesia, which are partial to softer rice. Histochemical study of rice grain, with emphasis on the outer layers of milled rice. This is especially important because rice is consumed as a whole grain.(author)