The formation of cracks in rice during wetting and its effect on the cooking characteristics of the cereal.

Milled raw or parboiled rice developed transverse lines of cracks when
soaked in water. It took a longer time for the cracks to develop in parboiled
rice than in raw rice. Fonnation of cracks was accelerated by temperature
in the case of parboiled rice; whereas a retarding effect was observed above
70°C, in raw rice.
After grains were soaked in water to develop these cracks, both raw and
parboiled rice required a shorter cooking time, and the cooked grains were
also longer than in the ruse of the unsoaked control samples,
The absorption of water by rice grains made them opaque, and this
property was used to study the mode of water penetration during soaking.
In the initial stages, water entered the grain near its germ end and along
the top line of fusion. Transverse lines of cracks developed after some time,
and water entered the grain through these cracks subsequently, If the grains
were already cracked before wetting, water absorption was quite fast, and
the grains became opaque within a few minutes.