Germinated Rice Drying by Fluidized Bed Technique using Superheated Steam

Abstract

The purpose of this research work was to study the germinated rice drying by fluidized bed technique using superheated steam as a drying medium. The dryer had capacity of 30 kg/h. This pretreatment process resulted in the germinated rice moisture content of 30 % (w.b.). The drying conditions were set at a bed height of 12 cm, a superheated steam velocity of 2.40, 2.44 and 2.62 m/s, drying temperatures of 130, 150 and 170, and residence time of 5 minutes. After drying, the germinated rice was dehulled and properties of the germinated brown rice were determined. The experimental results showed that the final moisture contents of the germinated rice were approximately 17.28, 16.33 and 15.71% (w.b.) for the drying temperatures of 130, 150 and 170^oC respectively. It was also found that drying at temperature of 130 ^oC  gave the percentage of germinated brown rice higher than drying at temperatures of 150 and 170^oC.  White belly was not found for all drying temperatures. The percentage of cracking and hardness of the germinated brown rice tended to increase with increasing drying temperature. However, the drying temperature had no obvious effect on color parameters in terms of lightness, redness, and yellowness of the product. The experimental  results showed that the gamma - aminobutyric acid  of  the germinated rice were approximately 3.29, 3.11 and 2.70 mg/100g