Abstract: Rice is one of the most important food crops in China. The chemical components of rice vary greatly with production areas and varieties and have different effects on the processing quality of rice. In this study, 15 different rice cultivars were compared for differences in chemical components and processing quality, and the correlations of chemical components of rice with starch gelatinization properties and cooked rice texture were systematically analyzed. Further, we identified the characteristic components with the most significant impact on starch gelatinization properties and cooked rice texture. The results showed that significant differences existed among cultivars in the contents of total protein, albumin, globulin, gliadin, gluten and amylose, with variation coefficients of 10.84%, 30.33%, 12.36%, 18.12%, 26.18%, and 23.73%, respectively. Moreover, the contents of protein and starch were found to be the most important factors that determine starch gelatinization characteristics and cooked rice texture quality. This study provides theoretical data for rice processing suitability evaluation.

Key words: rice; contents of chemical components; gelatinization characteristics; texture quality; correlation