Zahra Mahdizadeh Barzoki - Faculty of food industry and agriculture Standard Research Institute (SRI) Karaj, Iran

In this research the effects of two new drying method, (fluidized bed dryer and solar dryer) and a traditional method (natural sun drying- the most common means of drying agricultural products in the tropics) of paddy drying, on the quality of two varieties of Iranian rice (medium and long grain) were studied. Drying process was conducted at 140ºC for 2 minutes in fluidized bed dryer and 1.5 h in solar dryer and 8-10 h in traditional method. Samples were milled and polished and quality factors including trade quality (head rice yield percent and whiteness), cooking quality (amylose content, gelatinization temperature, gel consistency, aroma and flavor) and nutritional quality (thiamin and lysine contents) were evaluated. Most quality factors were affected by fluidized bed dryer, but not solar dryer. Quality factors weren t affected by solar drying and quality characteristics of final product were comparable to natural sun drying.

Rice; Fluidized bed dryer; Sun drying; Quality