Yield and quality of brown rice noodles processed from early-season rice grains

Producing rice noodles using early-season rice grains is a way to bypass difficulties in marketing early-season rice that does not meet consumer preference for soft-textured rice. In recent years, brown rice foods including noodles have attracted great attention due to their health and nutritional benefits. This study was conducted to evaluate the yield and quality of brown rice noodles processed from two early-season rice cultivars. Results showed that the yield of brown rice noodles was 12–19% higher than that of white rice noodles. Although the cooked break rate and cooking loss rate were 5–10% higher in brown rice noodles compared to white rice noodles, both were within an acceptable range for brown rice noodles. Cooked brown rice noodles had 21–27% lower hardness and chewiness than cooked white rice noodles, though differences in the elasticity parameters springiness, cohesiveness, and resilience were not significant or were inconsistent between cooked brown and white rice noodles. These results suggest that it is feasible to process early-season rice to produce brown rice noodles of desirable yield and quality.