Relationship between Molecular Structure of Rice Amylopectin and Texture of Cooked Rice

Abstract

The relationship betwwen the molecular structure of amylopectin and the texture of cooked rice was investigated using Korean rice [3 varieties of Japonica type and 3 varieties of Tongil type(Japonica-Indica breeding type)]. The molecular structure of rice amylopectin was polymodal and distributed A chain of 12.4, short B chain of 20.6, B chain of 26.3, long B chain of 45 and super long chain of above 55. The super long chain of amylopectin was composed of long linear chain with poorly branched chain. Also, the super long chain of amylopectin showed positive correlated with average chain length, inherent viscosity and limit, but negative correlated with of iodine reaction of amylopectin. The structural properties of amylopectin in Japonica type were different from those of amylopectin in Tongil type. In relationship between molecular structure of amylopectin and texture of cooked rice, the average chain length, inherent viscosity, limit and super long chain of amylopectin was showed a positive correlation with hardness, but a negative correlation with adhesiveness of cooked rice. The long chain of rice amylopectin is the less, the eating quality of cooled rice was the better. These results suggest that the molecular structure of rice amylopectin could be responsible for the texture of cooked rice.