Parboiled rice

In News

• The Centre has said it will stop the purchase of excess parboiled rice, of which Telangana is a major producer.

About Parboiled rice

• History
  • Parboiling of rice is not a new practice, and has been followed in India since ancient times.
  • However, there is no specific definition of parboiled rice of the Food Corporation of India or the Food Ministry.
• Meaning
  • It means partly cooked by boiling.
  • It refers to rice that has been partially boiled at the paddy stage, before milling.
• Several processes
  • Common Method: Paddy is soaked in hot water for three hours. The water is then drained and the paddy steamed for 20 minutes. Also, the paddy is sun-dried in the common method.
  • Chromate soaking process: It uses chromate, a family of salt in which the anion contains both chromium and oxygen, which removes the odour from the wet rice.
  • All processes generally involve three stages: soaking, steaming and drying. After passing through these stages, the paddy goes for milling.
• Suitability
  • Generally, all varieties can be processed into parboiled rice, but it is ideal to use long slender varieties to prevent breakage during milling.
  • However, aromatic varieties should not be parboiled because the process can make it lose its aroma.
• Benefits
  • Parboiling makes rice tougher: This reduces the chances of the rice kernel breaking during milling.
  • Parboiling also increases the nutrient value of the rice.
  • Parboiled rice has a higher resistance to insects and fungi.
• Disadvantages
  • The rice becomes darker and may smell unpleasant due to prolonged soaking.
  • Setting up a parboiling rice milling unit requires a higher investment than a raw rice milling unit.
• Data on Stocks
  • The highest stock is in Telangana followed by Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

Source:IE