Studies on pressure parboiling of paddy

Abstract

A pressure parboiling system for paddy was designed and fabricated which consists of a pressure parboiling tank with steam distribution pipes, a steam generator and instrumentation for measuring pressure and temperature. Studies on pressure parboiling was conducted for local variety Jyothi, using the fabricated setup. Paddy was treated under different soaking temperature for different soaking periods with different parboiling pressures and parboiling time and moisture content of the parboiled paddy were found. The milling quality, cooking quality and physical characteristics of the pressure parboiled paddy under selected treatments were also found and the results were compared with the traditional parboiling process. It was concluded from the studies that pressure parboiling at a soaking temperature of 70C for a soaking period of 30 minutes with a parboiling pressure of 1 kg/cm 2 may be considered optimum for Jyothi variety of paddy.