Journal of Food Research; Vol. 3, No. 2; 2014 ISSN 1927-0887 E-ISSN 1927-0895 Published by Canadian Center of Science and Education 82 Physicochemical, Cooking Characteristics and Textural Properties of TOX 3145 Milled Rice Amaka M. Odenigbo 1,2 , Michael Ngadi 1 , Chijioke Ejebe 1 , Noe Woin 3 & Sali A. Ndindeng 3 1 Department of Bioresource Engineering, McGill University, Quebec, Canada 2 Department of Human Nutrition and Dietetics, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria 3 Institute of Agricultural Research for Development (IRAD), Yaoundé, Cameroon Correspondence: Michael Ngadi, Department of Bioresource Engineering, McGill University, 21111 Lakeshore Road, Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue, Quebec, H9X 3V9, Canada. E-mail: amakajesu1@yahoo.com Received: June 23, 2013 Accepted: February 24, 2014 Online Published: February 28, 2014 doi: 10.5539/jfr.v3n2p82 URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.5539/jfr.v3n2p82 Abstract Quality of rice is an important criterion for the choice and demand by rice consumers and it is determined by physicochemical parameters. The objective of this research was to screen the physical, gelatinization, cooking and textural properties of an improved rice variety cultivated in Cameroon (TOX 3145). Three differently processed samples of TOX 3145: non-parboiled (NP), traditional parboiled (TP) and IRAD parboiled (IRAD) were involved in this study. The result revealed the grain dimension of samples as long and slender shape. The degree of redness among cooked and uncooked grains varied from -0.8 to -1.0 and 0.3 to 1.5, respectively while yellowness parameter ranged between 0.4 to 4.0 and 7.6 to 8.4, respectively. Lightness parameter (L*) varied from 59.4 to 61.8 in cooked samples. Minimum cooking time among samples was between 17.9-19.7 min. Highest elastic modulus and hardness (43.3 N/mm and 36.8 N, respectively) was found in TP sample. The NP sample had lowest adhesiveness (-0.76 J) and highest gumminess (6.40 J). Water uptake was positively correlated with amylose content (r = 0.84; P < 0.05) and lightness parameter (r = 0.92; P < 0.05). This study provides information on the physical, thermal, gelatinization and cooking characteristics of TOX 3145 rice in its raw and parboiled forms as consumed in Cameroon. Keywords: milled rice, parboiling, texture, amylose, color parameter, grain dimension, cooking characteristics 1. Introduction In Cameroon, rice has become one of the most growing food sources to families (Goufo, 2008). An estimate of 12.7 to 20 kg of rice per year is consumed by an individual in Cameroun (Nguefack et al., 2007). The popularity of rice motivated the Cameroonian Government to increase national rice production as well as investing on improved rice varieties for the achievement of national food security (Goufo, 2008). Presently, several improved rice varieties have been released as a commitment to meeting the increased demand for rice in Africa (Gridley et al., 2002). Production of rice varieties in different location vary significantly in their grain quality due to genetic and environmental factors (Singh et al., 2005). Grain dimension is also an important quality of rice with varied preference among consumer groups and geographical location (Danbaba et al., 2011; Fan et al., 2006). The quality of rice is a multidimensional property including nutritional composition, cooking, physical and textural characteristics (Bocevska et al., 2009). Grain quality is an important criterion for the choice and demand by rice consumers (Danbaba et al., 2011). White and translucent grains are rated highly with more preference by rice consumer (Fofana et al., 2011; Adu-Kwarteng et al., 2003). On the other hand, palatability of cooked rice is governed by the textural characteristics (Zhout et al., 2002). The cooking characteristic of rice is related to grain dimension of milled rice. Bocevska et al. (2009) reported significant correlation of grain elongation during minimum cooking time with thickness (r = 0.7234) and width (r = 0.9134) of grains. The overall quality of rice is influenced by production, harvesting and postharvest operations (Danbaba et al.,