Relationship between sensory textural attributes and near infrared spectra of cooked rice

Abstract

Fourteen varieties of Thai indica rice, cooked with five water-to-rice ratios ranging from 1.3 to 2.5 on a weight basis, were characterised by sensory and instrumental texture profile analysis. The potential of near infrared (NIR) reflectance spectroscopy was investigated as an alternative tool for evaluating eating quality attributes of cooked rice by developing predictive models for sensory hardness, stickiness and glossiness. Partial least squares regression models were developed which predicted sensory hardness and stickiness slightly better than the glossiness with rv2evalues ranging from 0.88 to 0.91 and standard errors of prediction (SEP) lower than 0.4 unit score on nine-point sensory intensity scales. Results indicated that NIR spectroscopy-based models could be used for estimating the sensory hardness, stickiness and glossiness scores of cooked rice with higher accuracy (lower SEP) compared to the instrumental texture profile analysis based-models. © IM Publications 2007.