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Sensory Characteristics of Diverse Rice Cultivars as Influenced by Genetic and Environmental Factors

¹USDA ARS Southern Regional Research Center, New Orleans, LA. Names are necessary to report factually on available data; however, the USDA neither guarantees nor warrants the standard of the product, and the use of the name by the USDA implies no approval of the product to the exclusion of others that may also be suitable. ²Corresponding author. Fax 504-286-4430. E-mail: etchamp@srrc.ars.usda.gov ³USDA ARS Rice Research Unit, Beaumont, TX.

An understanding of how genetic, preharvest, and postharvest factors affect the sensory characteristics of rice will help producers and processors meet the needs of specific customers and foster the development of a diversified rice market. In this study, differences in the texture and flavor of 17 diverse cultivars related to genetic differences were characterized and the stability of their flavor and texture from one crop year to the next was determined. Sensory attributes of cooked rice were measured by panelists using descriptive sensory analysis methodology. Cooked texture of the cultivars varied widely and correlated well with amylose content with correlation coefficient (r) values in the range 0.76–0.97 for 11 of the 14 attributes. Flavor attribute intensities were low and similar among cultivars, with the exception of grain flavor. Grain flavor ranged in intensity from 2.2 to 4.9 and correlated highly and negatively with amylose content (-0.88). Roughness and hardness were the only textural attributes which were significantly different (P < 0.05) in the crop year 2 cultivar set compared to the crop year 1 set with the higher values of these two attributes in crop year 2 being explained primarily by protein contents being ≈3% higher. Hay-like, sweet aromatic, sour, and astringent were the only flavor attributes which were significantly (P < 0.05) different between the crop year sets. Ward's Cluster Analysis grouped the cultivars into five clusters with cultivars belonging to each cluster having common texture and flavor characteristics. Changes in assignment to clusters from one crop year to the next allowed assessment of the stabilities of the sensory impact of the cultivars to environmental factors.