Cereal Chem 44:233 - 237.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Effect of Oxygen Concentration on Deteriorative Mechanisms of Rice During Storage.

T. Iwasaki and T. Tani. Copyright 1967 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Interseed air of rice during storage is composed of various concentrations of oxygen as well as carbon dioxide, whether rice is stored in sacks or in bulk. It is believed that the oxygen concentration of the storage atmosphere has much effect on changes of rice properties during storage. Rice was stored in air and oxygen- free gases (experiment I), and in mixtures of oxygen and carbon dioxide in several different proportions (experiment II). Rice stored in low oxygen 1) showed decreases in acidity of water-extract and a great increase in reducing sugars during storage, although amylase activity was not influenced by oxygen concentration; and 2) produced some alcohol. Judging from these facts, rice components, during storage in low oxygen, must decompose by different mechanisms from that during storage in air. Production of alcohol by the anaerobic respiratory system of rice is well explained by D. L. Taylor's theory. Evaporation of alcohol may be one cause of weight loss of rice during storage.