Technological, physicochemical and culinary characterization of African rice accessions (<i>Oryza glaberrima</i>)

Abstract

Thanks to its contribution to human nutrition, rice is a vital issue, mainly based on its quality. While O. glaberrima is abandoned in favor of Asian rice, this study was carried out in identification process of best grain quality of African rice, in order to make them more competitive and valorous in systems of varietal improvement. Principal components analysis method has been used for characterization of 215 African rice accessions, based on their technological, physicochemical and cooking parameters. The results showed on average a high amylose content (28.82%), a cooking time of 20.20 min, machining yield of 62.71% and score of 5 for gelatinization. Three clusters have been identified. Essentially, Cluster 1 is specifically characterized by a low chalkiness (10.29%), cluster 2 is characterized by a low broken rate (25%) and good machining yield (64%) while the cluster 3 of accessions is characterized by high index of « Volume expansion » and « water uptake » during cooking. These accessions represent a solution approach to meet the different requirements in terms of improving varieties integrating nutritional properties and food processing for the development of African rice.