Effect of cooking methods on nutritional quality of rice (Oryza sativa) varieties

The objective of the present investigation was to study the effect of four cooking methods viz. ordinary, pressure, microwave and solar cooking methods on proximate composition and in vitro protein and starch digestibility of six rice varieties. The study revealed that after cooking, moisture increased significantly, whereas, crude protein, fat, ash and crude fibre contents decreased significantly by 1.7 to 4.9, 20.8 to 33.8, 12.7 to 20.0 and 8.2 to 12.2 per cent, respectively under all cooking methods. The in vitro protein and starch digestibility upon cooking by all methods increased significantly and ranged from 81.87 to 86.60 and 90.60 to 92.14 per cent, respectively. Cooking methods differ significantly (P<0.05) in respect of moisture, fat and in vitro protein digestibility among rice varieties. It may be concluded that nutritional quality of rice is influenced by cooking but not much influenced by cooking methods.