Effects of atmospheric pressure plasma treatment on the quality and cellulose modification of brown rice

This study investigates the effect of atmospheric pressure dielectric barrier pulsed discharge plasma treatment on cooking quality and cellulose modification of brown rice. The results showed that 15 min of plasma treatment reduced the cooking time, hardness, and chewiness of brown rice by 27.40%, 30.68%, and 40.23%, respectively, compared to the control. The etching of the brown rice skin and the formation of water channels lead to increased water absorption. This led to a significant increase in palatability of the treated brown rice. In addition, the crystallinity and average particle size (Dhkl) of the treated brown rice were reduced to 10.93% and 42.85% of the initial level, respectively, and the cellulose solubility increased from 8.20% to 55.20%. The surface microstructure was also found to fracture and destroy of the cellulose structure. These findings suggest that plasma made the originally dense fiber structure of brown rice epidermis loose through the etching effect, thus improving the cooking quality of brown rice. The present conclusions offer fundamental insights into the interaction between plasma treatment and brown rice, which should be beneficial for applying plasma in whole-grain processing.