Cereal Chem. 70:613-615   |  VIEW ARTICLE

NOTE: Critical Moisture Content for Fissures in Rough Rice.

B. O. Juliano and C. M. Perez. Copyright 1993 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

Determinations were made of the critical moisture content (CMC) in selected IR varieties and other rough rices after harvest in both dry and wet seasons at the International Rice Research Institute. Below the CMC, the grain becomes susceptible to fissuring. The rices were dried to moisture contents of 10-20%, wb, stressed by soaking in water for 2 hr, and redried before milling. Susceptible variety IR42 had a CMC of 16% in both crops, whereas resistant variety IR60 had a CMC of 14% in the dry season and 12% in the wet season. Grain for the moisture-adsorption stress test was shade-dried to 14% moisture, verified as optimum. The CMC obtained from dried grains, adjusted to higher moisture content by moisture adsorption before stressing, did not effectively distinguish among IR rices. Flash-drying of all freshly harvested grain to a target moisture content of 20 +/- 5% may be employed without danger of grain cracking.