An Examination of Cooked Rice with Electrolyzed Water

Abstract

Basic water obtained by electrolyzing of tap water was applied to improve a quality of cooked rice. In the measurement of the total volume swelling with polished rice and soaking water, basic water was more effective than natural water (tap water) and acidic water. The pH (of water) gave a favorable influence in this result. The texture of cooked rice, that is the adhesiveness/hardness ratio, was measured by the three grain method and the size (two dimensions area) of cooked rice was measured by image processing system. The results indicated the same phenomenon. It showed that basic water was effective on the texture of cooked rice. We suggested that the increase of texture of cooked rice treated by basic water was caused by the increase of gelatinized starch on surface of cooked rice. An amount of starch liberated from the polished rice treated by basic water was the highest in three kinds of water. The fact was similar in cooked rice. It was suggested that these were caused by the influence of pH on washed rice and mineral density on cooked rice. © 1996, Japanese Society for Food Science and Technology. All rights reserved.