Measuring Head Rice Recovery in Rice.

Head rice recovery (HRR) is a milling quality attribute that is highly influential toward the market price of rice. It is defined as the proportion of paddy rice that retains 75% of its length after milling. For a new rice variety to be accepted and adopted by farmers, the new variety's HRR should satisfy consumer requirements of at least 55% or above. Hence, HRR is a crucial attribute by which new varieties are selected for release. Although the amount of head rice recovered depends on the genetic background of a rice variety, HRR is also highly affected by postharvest processing conditions that the variety goes through. To determine the maximum HRR, therefore, one must ensure that the processing conditions are as optimal as possible. This book chapter outlines how paddy rice is processed into head rice and how HRR is measured. It also proposes an improved laboratory-scale means for postharvest drying to minimize head rice losses.