Abstract: In this research, four kinds of commercially available rice were cooked by four different cooking methods: steaming, high pressure cooking, microwave heating and cooker heating, and a texture analyzer, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) and sensory evaluation were used to evaluate the physicochemical properties, textural properties, aroma and sensory quality of cooked rice. In addition, the relationship between eating quality and sensory evaluation was discussed. The purpose was to explore the effects of different rice varieties (japonica rice and indica rice), and different cooking techniques on the eating quality of rice, and therefore to offer a theoretical basis for comprehensive evaluation of the eating quality of rice. The results showed that water absorption rate, expansion rate and iodine blue value, adhesiveness and springiness of high pressure cooked rice were larger than those of cooked rice obtained by three other cooking methods, while hardness showed the opposite result. In sensory evaluation, high pressure cooked rice scored highest among the cooking methods, while the eating quality of microwave cooked rice was the worst. There was a significantly positive correlation between rice expansion rate and flavor, shape (P < 0.05, P < 0.01). Hardness was extremely negatively correlated with sensory evaluation scores and taste (P < 0.01). Springiness was extremely significantly positively correlated with rice shape and color (P < 0.01). In addition, the major flavor components (such as aldehydes, ketone, and alcohol) of rice cooked by high pressure and cooker heating were more abundant and diverse than those of other cooking processes, and the species and contents of flavor components in different rice varieties were significantly different.

Key words: rice, processing methods, eating quality, flavor compounds