Evaluation of the ‘Soak N Eat’ Rice (Oryza sativa L.) variety Aghoni for Quality Traits

The rice variety Aghoni was grown at Cuttack in both wet and dry seasons and the agronomic, grain quality and biochemical parameters were studied. It was found that the variety was suitable for cultivation at Cuttack in wet season only, because the plant height, number of tillers per plant, yield related attributes, yield and crop duration were drastically affected, when it was grown in dry season. Grain quality analysis of wet season crop indicated that the grains had high water uptake value (310ml/100g) and low amylose (4.65%) content. The parboiled rice grains of Aghoni were found to become as soft as cooked within 45 min of soaking in water at room temperature; it required only 15 min to get the same effect, if boiling water was added to the grains. Interestingly, the soaking time of Aghoni has been found to increase over the years when grown at Cuttack during 2008–2011. The glycemic index value of Aghoni was also determined and found to be more than 72 suggesting that, like most of the rice varieties, Aghoni also may not be suitable for consumption by diabetics.