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1 – 10 of over 2000
Article
Publication date: 26 October 2012

Sukriti Das and Bratati De

The purpose of this paper is to determine the α‐amylase and α‐glucosidase inhibitory properties of grains of some red and white varieties of rice from India.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine the α‐amylase and α‐glucosidase inhibitory properties of grains of some red and white varieties of rice from India.

Design/methodology/approach

Methanolic extracts of different rice varieties were analyzed for their α‐amylase and α‐glucosidase inhibitory properties. Total phenol and total anthocyanin contents were measured.

Findings

The white varieties of rice grains showed weak α‐glucosidase inhibitory activity and no α‐amylase inhibitory activity. The red varieties of rice grains showed good α‐glucosidase and α‐amylase inhibitory activities. The activities in these red varieties of rice, as determined by the IC50 values, were found to be correlated to total anthocyanin content. α‐glucosidase inhibitory activity of cyanidin‐3‐glucoside, the anthocyanin reported from rice grains was studied. But the IC50 values of different red varieties of rice were much less than that of cyanidin‐3‐glucoside indicating higher activity of red rice grain extracts than the purified pigment. This might be due to synergistic activity with other components present in rice extract.

Originality/value

The report shows hypoglycaemic potential of red varieties of rice grains.

Details

Nutrition & Food Science, vol. 42 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0034-6659

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 September 2017

Khondoker Abdul Mottaleb, Dil Bahadur Rahut and Ashok K. Mishra

The purpose of this paper is to examine the rice consumption by rice grain types under the rising income scenario in Bangladesh. Generally, with an increase in income, households…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the rice consumption by rice grain types under the rising income scenario in Bangladesh. Generally, with an increase in income, households tend to consume more food items that are high-value, enriched foods and protein, such as meat and fish, by substituting for cereals. However, consumers also substitute when it comes to grain quality. For example, cereals, such as rice, are available in a range of qualities from the ordinary type (coarse-grain) to the premium type (fine grain). The authors postulate that as household incomes increase, households may consume more premium-type rice (or fine-grain rice), while overall consuming less rice or fewer carbohydrates.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the Bangladesh Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2000, 2005, and 2010, and applying multivariate probit and seemingly unrelated regression estimation procedures, this study quantifies the impact of income, household demographics, and urbanization on rice consumption by rice grain types (coarse-grain, medium-grain, and fine-grain types).

Findings

The results show that urban, wealthy households and, households headed by educated heads and spouses, are more likely to consume fine-grain rice than their counterparts.

Originality/value

After yield, grain type is the second most important factor for farmers when considering the adoption of a new variety. The price of rice and other cereals is highly associated with the grain type. This study concludes that plant breeding programs of major cereals, such as rice and wheat, should take into account the consumer grain-type preferences when developing new varieties.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 119 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 November 2021

Joan Carlos Alves Pereira, Wilton Pereira da Silva, Renato Costa da Silva, Cleide Maria Diniz P.S. e Silva and Josivanda Palmeira Gomes

To describe water absorption by the rice grains over time, diffusion and empirical models were used. Also, an optimization software was developed in this study to determine…

Abstract

Purpose

To describe water absorption by the rice grains over time, diffusion and empirical models were used. Also, an optimization software was developed in this study to determine parameters and their uncertainties for the diffusion models (LS Optimizer, for partial differential equations). Parameters (and their uncertainties) for empirical models were determined by LAB Fit Curve Fitting Software.

Design/methodology/approach

Heat and mass diffusion phenomena are found in various processes of technological interest, including pasteurization, drying and water immersion of agricultural products, among others. The objective of this work was to study the process of water absorption by rice grains with and without husk, using diffusion and empirical models to describe the absorption kinetics. Rice grains were immersed (approximately 10 g for each experiment) in drinking water maintained at constant temperatures of 28, 40 and 50 C. In the experiments, the water contents absorbed by rice grains over time were obtained by the gravimetric method.

Findings

Among empirical models, Peleg was the most satisfactory to describe the kinetics of water absorption by rice without husk, while the Silva et alii model had the best statistical indicators for rice with husk. It was also verified that a diffusion model with boundary condition of the first kind showed the best (or equivalent) results in the description of all processes of kinetics of water absorption by rice grains, with and without husk. For grains without husk, the effective mass diffusivities were (1.186 ± 0.045) × 10−9, (1.312 ± 0.024) × 10−9 and (2.133 ± 0.028) × 10−9 m2 min−1, for the immersion temperatures of 28, 40 and 50C, respectively. For grains with husk, diffusivities were (0.675 ± 0.011) × 10−9 and (1.269 ± 0.017) × 10−9 m2 min−1, for temperatures of 28 and 50 C, respectively.

Originality/value

This work developed a solver for the diffusion equation in cylindrical geometry and presented the LS Optimizer software developed to determine differential equation parameters through experimental data sets.

Details

Engineering Computations, vol. 39 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-4401

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 1987

The UK consumes about 170,000 tonnes of rice, over 15 per cent of the total EEC consumption. The Food and Drink Federation is increasing efforts to bring down the price of long…

Abstract

The UK consumes about 170,000 tonnes of rice, over 15 per cent of the total EEC consumption. The Food and Drink Federation is increasing efforts to bring down the price of long‐grain rice which is being kept artificially high by the EEC Rice Regime. Two major changes need to be made: the levy on imported long‐grain rice should be removed or reduced; support for medium‐grain varieties should be limited, to encourage producers to cultivate round‐grain rice for which a market exists. The action envisaged by the FDF Rice Panel is described.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 89 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 May 2017

Linhai Wu, Qipeng Hu, Jianhua Wang and Dian Zhu

In China, a major grain producer, rice losses during harvest cannot be ignored. The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent of rice harvest losses in major grain-producing…

Abstract

Purpose

In China, a major grain producer, rice losses during harvest cannot be ignored. The purpose of this paper is to assess the extent of rice harvest losses in major grain-producing areas in China by a sampling survey, and to further analyze the main factors influencing rice harvest losses using an ordered multinomial logistic model.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, data were collected using a multi-stage sampling method from ten major rice-producing provinces/regions in China. On this basis, five counties were selected from each of these provinces/regions. In the actual survey, house numbers were randomly selected, and then corresponding farmer households were visited by trained investigators.

Findings

The survey found that 56.22 percent of respondents believed that rice harvest losses were 4 percent or lower in China, though there were differences among the provinces. The proportion of family business income, planting scale, mechanization level, timely harvest, and operational meticulousness had negative effects on rice harvest losses. On the other hand, farmers’ experience of employment as migrant workers had a positive effect on rice harvest losses. In addition, bad weather and short handedness during harvest significantly increased rice harvest losses.

Originality/value

The meaning of rice harvest losses was defined based on previous research findings on the definition of grain harvest losses and the realities in China. The current rice harvest losses in different areas in China were analyzed based on sampling survey data from 957 farmers in ten provinces in China.

Details

China Agricultural Economic Review, vol. 9 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1756-137X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 2019

Ayodeji Oluwaseun Ogunleke and L.J.S. Baiyegunhi

The purpose of this paper is to examine households’ acceptability of local (Ofada) rice by identifying the quality attributes influencing marginal implicit prices (MIPs) paid by…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine households’ acceptability of local (Ofada) rice by identifying the quality attributes influencing marginal implicit prices (MIPs) paid by rice consumers’ households in South-West, Nigeria.

Design/methodology/approach

The data used for this study were collected from a survey of 600 rice-consuming households in the study area. A multistage sampling technique was employed to select the respondents. Well-structured questionnaires were used to collect information on general households’ socioeconomic characteristics, their desirability and preference for local (Ofada) rice, and market prices of Ofada rice. Kendall’s concordance test was performed to confirm agreement among respondents in their rankings of the rice quality attributes. Hedonic price function was used to examine the relationship between implicit prices paid by consumers based on quality attributes of local (Ofada) rice, as observed in the market.

Findings

The result of Kendall’s coefficient of concordance revealed that there is 73.74 per cent agreement in ranking quality attributes of local (Ofada) rice consumers’ households in the study area. Colour, perceived nutrient level, taste, grain shape and rate of breakage were the most ranked quality attributes with mean attribute ranking scores of 1.56, 1.69, 3.12, 5.53 and 5.86, respectively. The result of the hedonic pricing model revealed that households are willing to pay MIPs of ₦71.03 ($0.20), ₦45.23 ($0.13), ₦32.98 ($0.09), ₦21.06 ($0.06) and ₦14.41($0.04) per kg for colour, grain cohesion, grain shape, perceived nutrient level and perceived chemical storage, respectively, while discounting MIPs of ₦60.55 ($0.17), ₦19.36 ($0.05), ₦17.14 ($0.05) and ₦6.00 ($0.02) for texture, rate of breakage, perceived freshness and low swelling capacity per kg of local (Ofada) rice, respectively.

Research limitations/implications

Continuous importation of rice into the country has many negative implications such as worsening of the poverty status of local rice farmers, unemployment of teeming youths engaged in rice value chain, and exposure to soaring and unpredictable price bringing unsustainable development. Lastly, over-dependency on rice importation, if not checked, can also permit dumping of low quality and sometimes expired rice into the country. All aforementioned reasons will make it difficult for local rice to compete favourably with imported varieties.

Practical implications

Kendall’s coefficient of concordance and Hedonic model were used as a diagnostic tools. These diagnostic tools show the need for government and relevant stakeholders to focus on improving the quality of local (Ofada) rice, especially the undesirable attributes. This could be achieved by adopting modern processing technology, that will enhance production and consumers’ acceptability, which could make local (Ofada) rice have good market share against imported brands.

Social implications

The economic value of a good is revealed by the consumer’s willingness to pay for the good, consequently increasing production through consumers’ acceptability, and improve living standard of farmers and processors through increased earnings.

Originality/value

The choice of a particular local rice, especially local (Ofada) rice, is made to estimate the effect of different attributes on the price paid by rice consumers’ households and to help in the development of effective technologies and policy that enhance better rice quality using both Kendall’s coefficient of concordance and Hedonic model to achieve the objective. For the first time this research has given clarity on the monetary value attached to local (Ofada) rice consumption by rice consumers’ households through quality attributes.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 121 no. 9
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 8 May 2018

Arunothai Juemanee, Kongkarn Kijroongrojana, Mutita Meenune and Wilatsana Posri

The purpose of this paper is to explore and compare consumer perceptions of unpolished pigmented rice and milled white rice between unfamiliar and typical consumers.

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore and compare consumer perceptions of unpolished pigmented rice and milled white rice between unfamiliar and typical consumers.

Design/methodology/approach

This study first employed focus groups to explore attitudes and habits relating to rice consumption among British subjects. A sensory descriptive analysis method, flash profiling (FP), was then applied on consumer panels in the UK and Thailand to gain perceived sensory quality of unfamiliar and typical rice samples. The sensory profiles generated by British and Thai panellists were analysed by generalised procrustean analysis (GPA) and compared based on perceived attributes, dominant characteristics and repeatability.

Findings

Focus group results suggested that consumer familiarity with rice might influence preferred rice textural quality. The prominent textures of stickiness and bittiness of unpolished pigmented rice were negatively associated with perceived quality in the UK participants. The sensory profiles generated by GPA consisted of similarity with darkness of colour and sweet/earthy type odours that are key dominant characteristics of the Thai pigmented rice.

Practical implications

The research has provided sensory information of the unpolished pigmented rice as compared with milled white rice. The information gives insights on product development directions for export and further research on rice processing and cooking instructions.

Originality/value

This study is the first to apply sensory evaluation in a cross-cultural comparison of pigmented rice.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 120 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 23 March 2023

Edgar Edwin Twine, Sali Atanga Ndindeng, Gaudiose Mujawamariya, Stella Everline Adur-Okello and Celestine Kilongosi

Improving the competitiveness of East Africa's rice industries necessitates increased and viable production of rice of the quality desired by consumers. This paper aims to…

1131

Abstract

Purpose

Improving the competitiveness of East Africa's rice industries necessitates increased and viable production of rice of the quality desired by consumers. This paper aims to understand consumer preferences for rice quality attributes in Uganda and Kenya to inform the countries' rice breeding programs and value chain development interventions.

Design/methodology/approach

Rice samples are obtained from retail markets in various districts/counties across the two countries. The samples are analyzed in a grain quality laboratory for the rice's physicochemical characteristics and the resulting data are used to non-parametrically estimate hedonic price functions. District/county dummies are included to account for potential heterogeneity in consumer preferences.

Findings

Ugandan consumers are willing to pay a price premium for rice with a relatively high proportion of intact grains, but the consumers discount chalkiness. Kenyan consumers discount high amylose content and impurities. There is evidence of heterogeneity in consumer preferences for rice in Mbale, Butaleja and Arua districts of Uganda and in Kericho and Busia counties of Kenya.

Originality/value

The study makes a novel contribution to the literature on consumer preferences for rice in East Africa by applying a hedonic pricing model to the data generated from a laboratory analysis of the physicochemical characteristics of rice samples obtained from the market. Rather than base our analysis on consumers' subjective sensory assessment of the quality characteristics of rice, standard laboratory methods are used to generate the data, which enables a more objective assessment of the relationship between market prices and the quantities of attributes present in the rice samples.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 125 no. 13
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 August 1909

Dr. EASTWOOD'S report to the Local Government Board on this subject is of special interest to the people of this country at the present time in view of the steps that are being…

Abstract

Dr. EASTWOOD'S report to the Local Government Board on this subject is of special interest to the people of this country at the present time in view of the steps that are being taken with the object of checking the spread of tuberculosis, and the undoubted connections that exist between that and other diseases, and the sources and character of the milk supply. In this country little attention has hitherto been paid to the condition of cows or cowsheds, except perhaps in rare instances where the former were obviously diseased, or the latter constituted a public nuisance; while the connection between milk supply and disease has scarcely been recognised by the Legislature and by public authorities, and has been entirely ignored by the general public. For some years past the health authorities in the United States, as well as those of some other countries, have been making very serious efforts to eradicate tuberculosis from dairy herds, if that be possible. The way in which some of the various States and Cities of the Union are attempting to do this is of importance and interest to us for various reasons. Their problems are very much the same as ours. The success or failure of milk regulations in the United States may, therefore, be taken as an indication of the probable success or failure of ours. Such methods are, therefore, valuable as broadly suggesting those which we may usefully adopt or avoid. The United States also send us a large proportion of our oversea meat supply, and any question relating to the general health of dairy herds cannot be dissociated from one affecting the general health of animals that are slaughtered for their meat. It may also be remarked that such questions relate not only to the meat supply from the States, but also to the great cattle ranches of the Southern American continent, in which British and American capital is becoming increasingly employed. The Americans are nothing if not practical. They are almost proverbially unhampered by tradition. They are quick to adopt what may prove to be new remedies for old evils. While the independent control exercised by each State of the Union over its own internal affairs results in the attempted solution of any general problem being presented in almost as many forms.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 11 no. 8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Article
Publication date: 18 January 2023

Payam Najafi, Akram Eftekhari and Alireza Sharifi

In the past three decades, remote sensing-based models for estimating crop yield have addressed critical problems of general food security, as the unavailability of grains such as…

Abstract

Purpose

In the past three decades, remote sensing-based models for estimating crop yield have addressed critical problems of general food security, as the unavailability of grains such as rice creates serious worldwide food insecurity problems. The main purpose of this study was to compare the potential of time-series Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2 data to predict rice yield several weeks before harvest on a regional scale.

Design/methodology/approach

To this end, the sum of normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI)-based models created the best agreement with actual yield data at the golden time window of six weeks before harvest when rice grains were in milky and mature growth stages. The application of nine other vegetation indicators was also investigated in the golden time window in comparison to NDVI.

Findings

The findings of this study demonstrate the viability of identifying locations with poor and superior performance in terms of production management approaches through a rapid and economical solution for early rice grain yield assessment. Results indicated that while some of those, such as enhanced vegetation index (EVI) and optimized soil adjusted vegetation index, were able to estimate rice yield with high accuracy, NDVI is still the best indicator to predict rice yield before harvest. However, experiments can be conducted in different regions in future studies to evaluate the generalizability of the approach.

Originality/value

To achieve this objective, the authors considered the following purposes: using Sentinel-2 time-series data, determining the appropriate growth stage for estimating rice yield and evaluating different vegetation indices for estimating rice yield.

Details

Aircraft Engineering and Aerospace Technology, vol. 95 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1748-8842

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 2000