The Mechanism of Kernel Elongation in Rice

All possible correlations made between nine different physico-chemical and morphological features of rice kernel and its elongation behaviour on cooking revealed that water uptake was the only character showing positive and significant influence on kernel elongation. Anatomical study of endosperm of elongating and non-elongating varieties revealed them to distinctly differ in the shape and arrangement of cells. As against nearly equidistant penta- or hexagonal cells arranged in a bee-comb fashion in the elongating basmati rices, the cells were found to be long rectangular and arranged radially in columns extending from the centre to periphery in the breadthwise swelling types.