Influence of starch fine structure and storage proteins on the eating quality of rice varieties with similar amylose contents

Abstract BACKGROUND Rice eating quality largely dictates consumer preference, and the demand for new rice varieties with excellent eating quality from farmers is increasing. Identification of factors contributing to eating quality is helpful for developing high‐quality rice varieties. RESULTS Two groups of rice with different apparent amylose content (AACs) were used in this study. One group contained four varieties with low AACs (8.8–9.4%), whereas the other contained four traditional varieties with medium AACs (17.2–17.5%). The physicochemical properties, starch fine structure and crystallinity and storage protein composition of the two groups were analyzed. We found that, in both groups, the rice varieties with high eating quality had more short‐chain amylopectin, lower glutelin and prolamin content, and a higher albumin content. In addition, the low‐AAC varieties produced opaque endosperms, which may result from an increased number of pores in the center of starch granules. CONCLUSIONS Both the fine structure of starch and the storage protein composition were closely related to rice eating quality. In both groups, short branch‐chain amylopectin, short‐chain amylopectin [degree of polymerization (DP) 6–12], and albumin had positive effects on eating quality. By contrast, long branch‐chain amylopectin, long‐chain amylopectin (DP 35–60), glutelin and prolamin had adverse effects on eating quality of rice. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry