Effects of ultrasonic treatment on the texture quality of aged rice flour

The effects of ultrasonic treatment (UT) on gel texture of fresh and aged rice flour were investigated. There were no significant differences in stickiness and springiness of rice gels between fresh and aged rice flours treated by UT at 100 W for 120 min, and the hardness, chewiness and gumminess of aged rice gel became lower than those of fresh rice, showing that the texture of aged rice gel was significantly improved. The changes of gel texture of aged rice flour could be attributed to the fact that UT effectively promoted starch granule disaggregation, increased water binding capacity, short-range ordered structure and double helix structure in starch, which may be the intrinsic reason for the improvement of the texture quality of aged rice flour. The results are of great importance for regulating rice product quality and revealing the mechanism of rice aging.