Breeding of new rice cultivar ‘Tohoku 194’ with ‘Sasanishiki’-type good eating quality of cooked rice

Cooked rice of ‘Sasanishiki’ is soft and not as sticky as those of Japanese leading cultivars ‘Koshihikari’ and ‘Hitomebore’. As a method for efficient selection of a breeding line having a good eating quality like that of ‘Sasanishiki’, the use of physical properties of cooked rice and cooking quality was examined. There were differences of physical properties of the surface layer, starch-iodine blue value per solid substance weight in cooking water and volume expansion of cooked rice between ‘Sasanishiki’ and ‘Hitomebore’, these properties being considered to be usable for the selection of breeding lines. Using these traits as selection targets, one line, named ‘Tohoku 194’, which has eating quality highly similar to that of ‘Sasanishiki’ and cold tolerance derived from ‘Hitomebore’, was selected from progeny of a cross between ‘Sasanishiki’ and ‘Hitomebore’. An application for registration as a new variety has been submitted for ‘Tohoku 194’ under the Japanese Plant Variety Protection Act, and is expected to become a recommended cultivar in Miyagi Prefecture. ‘Tohoku 194’ may fulfill various demands of consumers and companies in the food industry.