Quality evaluations of rice in Japan are performed by sensory testing and physicochemical measurements. The former is a basic method that requires large amounts of samples and several panelists. The latter is an indirect method that estimates the eating quality based on the chemical composition, cooking quality, gelatinization properties, and physical properties of cooked rice. Satake Co Ltd. developed a taste analyzer in the 1980s that is equipped with a palatability estimation formula that was based on the combination of near‐infrared spectroscopy (NIR) and physicochemical measurements related with sensory test. A novel method to evaluate the quality of the cooked rice is necessary to breed high‐quality rice cultivars and to select the suitable rice for each consumer and each purpose. We try to develop the novel method to evaluate the rice quality using various kinds of apparatus, such as Tensipresser, RVA, NIR, and spectrophotometer. Simple, rapid, and accurate method to evaluate the quality of rice grains is very valuable. We evaluated 16 Japanese and Chinese rice cultivars in terms of their physicochemical properties. Based on these quality evaluations, we concluded that Chinese rice cultivars are characterized by a high protein and that the grain texture after cooking has higher hardness and lower stickiness than Japanese ones reflecting the difference in consumers’ preference. The relationship between the palatability of rice and agronomical condition to preserve the bio‐diversity for Crested Ibis was investigated. Furthermore, the quality of rice grown in Sado Island, Japan, was assayed using rice grains grown in mountainous areas and in the field areas as samples.
Part of the book: Advances in International Rice Research