Hulling and Milling percentage
The results of hulling and milling percentage was calculated and depicted in Table 1. The hulling and milling percentage was significantly affected by the establishment methods of rice and the landraces. Among the rice establishment methods, the hulling and milling percentage was higher in puddled transplanting treatment (M
2) and lower percentage was observed in aerobic rice treatment (M
1). This might be due to lesser amount of water used for cultivation in aerobic rice whereas puddled field was maintained with adequate amount of water throughout the growing period. This was in accordance with
Ali et al., (2012) and
Zahra et al., (2022). On comparing the landraces,
Seeraga samba (V
3) had higher hulling and milling percentage of 81.53 ± 0.81=% and 75.49 ± 0.94% followed by
Mapillai samba with 79.95 ± 0.80% and 71.65±0.93% respectively.
Kumari et al., (2020) also reported that
Seeraga samba had higher hulling and milling percentage than
Karuppu kavuni and
Mapillai samba in their experiment for evaluating suitable rice varieties for organic farming.
Kernel length, breadth and length breadth ratio
Kernel length, breadth and length breadth ratio were significantly different and presented in Table 2. Puddled transplanting treatment (M
2) recorded longest kernel length, breadth and higher length breadth ratio with 5.36 ± 0.58 mm, 1.92 ± 0.09 mm and 2.77 ± 0.24 which is on par with unpuddled transplanting treatment (M
3) and the lowest was observed in aerobic rice treatment (M
1).
Gewaily et al., (2019) also reported that more availability of water improved the kernel length, breadth and length breadth ratio of rice.
Karuppu kavuni (V
1) recorded longest kernel length and breadth of 5.83±0.13 mm and 2.05±0.03 mm respectively and was in accordance with
Ponnappan et al., (2017) who noted that
karuppu kavuni recorded similar length, width and length breadth ratio.
KLAC and KBAC
There is a high significant difference of quality parameters with cooked rice among the establishment methods and the tested traditional landraces (Table 3). On comparing the different establishment methods KLAC and KBAC were found to be significantly higher in puddled transplanting treatment (M
2) with the values of 7.46±0.74 mm and 2.63±0.17 mm respectively as the kernel length and breadth before cooking were higher in the same puddled transplanting treatment.
Mapillai samba (V
2) recorded longer kernel length and breadth of 8.20±0.06 mm and 2.78±0.02 mm respectively after cooking due to its higher water absorption index.
LER, BER and VER
LER, BER and VER were analyzed and given in Table 4. LER was found to be higher in aerobic rice (M
1) with value of 1.47±0.04 followed by direct seeded rice (M
4) but the VER was higher in puddled and unpuddled transplanting plots (M
2 and M
3) with the value of 2.50±0.23. This might be due to the greater KLAC and KBAC. While comparing the varieties,
Seeraga samba (V
3) recorded significantly higher volume expansion ratio of 2.78±0.09 followed by
karuppu kavuni (V
1). Because of the smaller grain size of
Seeraga samba (V
3) comparing to the other two varieties, there will be more number of grains which lead to the higher VER.
Cooking time
Fig 1a and 1b represent
s the cooking time of rice under different establishment methods with various traditional rice landraces. The cooking time is prolonged for about 11 mins in aerobic rice treatment (M
1) than puddled transplanting treatment (M
2). Generally the flooded rice varieties have lower cooking time as in flood condition the kernels of rice become soft according to
Pandey et al., (2014). Shorter grain type
Seeraga samba (V
3) recorded lower cooking time of 27 mins and higher cooking time of 61 mins was recorded in
Mapillai samba (V
2). Shorter grain varieties have lower amylose content
(Chumsri et al., 2021). The changes in amylose content between rice varieties may be the cause of the variation in cooking times
(Bibi et al., 2011). The cooking time was very much increased in aerobic rice treatment because of longer time taken by grain to swell compared to other establishment methods. Due to the hardness of the
mapillai samba landrace grain, it showed increased cooking time but values of WAI and WSI were higher.
Solid loss
Solid loss is the amount of water that is left in the rice after cooking. From the Fig 2a and 2b, it was observed that the solid loss was less in puddled and unpuddled transplanting treatment (M
2 and M
3) with a minimum of 3.80±0.40% in both conditions and maximum solid loss of 4.16±0.38% was observed in aerobic rice treatment (M
1).
Karuppu kavuni (V
1) recorded lower solid loss 3.28±0.12% followed by
Mapillai samba (V
2) (3.88±0.05%). This indicates that the water absorption was better in puddled transplanting (M
2) and the pigmented rice varieties
viz. Karuppu Kavuni (V
1) and
Mapillai samba (V
2)
(Devraj et al., 2020).
Water absorption index (WAI)
WAI is the measurement of volume of starch occupied to form a gel after swelling in water. This is dependent on the availability of hydrophilic groups and their ability to help form the gel. The WAI were analyzed and presented in Fig 3. It denotes that water absorption index significantly differed among the establishment methods with the highest value of 2.28±0.10 g/g recorded in puddled transplanting treatment (M
2). In landraces,
Mapillai samba (V
2) recorded the highest value of 2.27±0.09 g/g followed by
Karuppu kavuni (V
1) with 2.17±0.06 g/g. This variation in WAI may result from differences in the number of OH groups that are used to generate covalent and hydrogen bonds between the chains of starch, as well as from the loss of the crystalline structure of the starch
(Gunaratne and Hoover, 2002).
Water solubility index (WSI)
WSI represents the number of starch particles distributed with the number of water-soluble molecules. The WSI were analyzed and depicted in Fig 4. There was a significant difference among the establishment methods and between varieties on WSI. Puddled transplanting treatment (M
2) recorded the highest water solubility index of 6.13±0.10 g/g followed by unpuddled transplanting treatment (M
3) with 6.02±0.12 g/g. In traditional landraces,
Mapillai samba (V
2) significantly recorded the highest WSI of 6.16±0.08 g/g and lower WSI of 5.77±0.09 g/g was noted in
Seeraga samba (V
3). The development of semi-crystalline structure and fragmentation of starch granules may be the cause of the variance in WSI amongst the different rice types (
Eliasson, 2017).