G Model

YJFCA 2554 16
Journal of Food Composition and Analysis xxx (2015) xxxxxx

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Journal of Food Composition and Analysis

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jfca
1
2

Original Research Article

Thiamine content and technological quality properties of parboiled

rice treated with sodium bisulte: Benets and food safety risk

3
4
5

Levien Vanier a,b,*, Ricardo Tadeu Paraginski a, Jose De J. Berrios b,

Leandro da Conceicao Oliveira c, Moacir Cardoso Elias a

Q1 Nathan

6
7
8
9

a
b
c

Department of Agroindustrial Science and Technology, Federal University of Pelotas, 96010-900 Pelotas, Brazil
Healthy Processed Foods Research Unit, WRRC, ARS, United States Department of Agriculture, 800 Buchanan Street, Albany, CA 94710, United States
Instituto Federal Sul-Riograndense, Campus Pelotas Visconde da Graca, 96060-290 Pelotas, Brazil

A R T I C L E I N F O

A B S T R A C T

Article history:
Received 26 June 2014
Received in revised form 14 February 2015
Accepted 17 February 2015
Available online xxx

Rice is a staple food for more than half of the worlds population. The parboiling process is known to
increase the nutritional value of milled rice, but the process darkens the grains, with a corresponding
negative effect on consumer acceptability. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of using
different concentrations of sodium bisulte (0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, 1.0%) during the soaking step of rice
parboiling process on the thiamine content and technological properties of parboiled rice. Moreover, the
residual sulte content in parboiled grains was also evaluated. The lowest concentration of 0.2% sodium
bisulte was able to signicantly (p < 0.05) promote a whiter colour, a decrease in the percentage of
stained grains, and an increase in the percentage of completely gelatinized grains in the parboiled rice,
compared to rice without sodium bisulte treatment. However, the use of sodium bisulte signicantly
(p < 0.05) reduced the thiamine content, which is considered a risk associated with the treatment.
2015 Published by Elsevier Inc.

Keywords:
Parboiling
Rice
Sodium bisulte
Thiamine
Food processing
Nutrient retention/loss
Food safety
Food composition
Food analysis

10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24

1. Introduction
Consumed all over the world, rice is an important source of
energy for the population worldwide. Rice is generally the
cheapest and richest source of carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins
and minerals for very poor populations, which makes it a powerful,
health-promoting ally in minimizing hunger. The majority of
consumers prefer well-milled white rice with little or no bran
remaining on the endosperm (Heinemann et al., 2006; Monks et al.,
2013). The milling process increases the preservation of rice during
storage by removing the fat-rich embryo and the bran layers of rice
caryopsis. On the other hand, the milling process promotes a
Q4 signicant decrease in vitamins and mineral content in rice due to
bran removal (Heinemann et al., 2005; Lamberts et al., 2007;
Monks et al., 2013). The parboiling process can be carried out in
Q3

Q2 * Corresponding author at: Department of Agroindustrial Science and Technology, Federal University of Pelotas, 96010-900 Pelotas, Brazil.
Tel.: +55 53 32757258; fax: +55 53 32757258.
E-mail address: nathanvanier@hotmail.com (N.L. Vanier).

order to obtain milled rice with a better nutritional composition

than milled white rice (Padua and Juliano, 1974).
The parboiling process consists of three additional steps in
conventional rice processing, which are: soaking, pressure steaming, and drying prior to dehusking. After these steps, rice follows
the same process as for conventional rice. The main phenomena
that occur in rice during parboiling are: (1) the transfer of bran
components to the inner layers of rice caryopsis during the soaking
step, (2) inactivation of lipases, naturally distributed in the bran,
due to heat treatment, and (3) starch gelatinization (Demont et al.,
2012). Although parboiling provides benets to the nutritional and
technological properties of rice, such as higher vitamin content,
longer shelf-life stability and decrease in the percentage of broken
grains after dehusking and milling compared to non-parboiled
milled rice, the parboiled rice is dark, which negatively affects rice
consumer acceptability (Bhattacharya, 1996).
It has been hypothesized that the colour changes that occurs
in rice during parboiling are caused by (1) diffusion of husk and
bran pigments; (2) non-enzymatic browning of the Maillard
type; and (3) enzymatic colour changes during the soaking
step (Ali and Bhattacharya, 1980; Bhattacharya and Rao, 1966;

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2015.02.008
0889-1575/ 2015 Published by Elsevier Inc.

Please cite this article in press as: Vanier, N.L., et al., Thiamine content and technological quality properties of parboiled rice treated with
sodium bisulte: Benets and food safety risk. J. Food Compos. Anal. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2015.02.008

25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45

G Model

YJFCA 2554 16
2

N.L. Vanier et al. / Journal of Food Composition and Analysis xxx (2015) xxxxxx

Etica, Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil) set at 38 8C, where the grains were dried
until they achieved 13% moisture content.
The dried rice grains (100 g) were dehusked and polished using
a Zaccaria rice machine (Type PAZ-1-DTA, Zaccaria, Limeira, SP,
Brazil). Brown rice samples, after cleaning and grading, were
polished for 50 s. The degree of milling (DOM) was determined
using the following equation: DOM = [1 (weight of the milled
rice/weight of the rough rice)]  100. All the samples presented
similar DOM. Broken grains were removed using a laboratory
grader of the same Zaccaria rice machine. The non-parboiled rice
grains and the grains subjected to parboiling under different
sodium bisulte concentrations were ground through a 70-mesh
screen (210 mm) using a laboratory mill (Perten 3100, Perten
Instruments, Hagersten, Sweden).

106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119

2.3. Thiamine and residual sulte content

120

Thiamine content was determined following uorometric

method 957.17 of the American Organization of Analytical
Chemists International (AOAC, 2005), in triplicate. Sulte content
was determined according to AOAC method 990.28 (AOAC, 2005),
in triplicate.

121
122
123
124
125

2.4. Broken grains

126

The length of each broken grain, obtained by using the

laboratory grader of the Zaccaria rice machine, was measured
with a digital calliper (Mitutoyo, Santo Amaro, SP, Brazil). Grains
with a length of less than 4.5 mm were considered broken, which is
the directive provided in the Brazilian Ofcial Standards for Rice
Classication (BRASIL, 2009). The percentage (%) of broken grains
was determined using the following equation: Broken grains
(%) = (weight of grains less than 4.5 mm length/weight of the
milled rice)  100.

127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135

2. Materials and methods

2.5. Stained grains

136

80

2.1. Materials

81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91

Long grain rice (Oryza sativa L.) from IRGA 417 cultivar (highamylose), cultivated under irrigation system on a farm in Pelotas,
State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, was harvested when the moisture
content was approximately 20%. The rice was placed in rafa bags
and immediately transported to Laboratorio de Pos-Colheita,
Industrializacao e Qualidade de Graos of the Universidade Federal
de Pelotas, where the study was carried out. The foreign matter and
impurities were manually removed from the grains prior to the
drying process. The grains were subjected to articial drying with
air temperature of 35 8C until the grain achieved 13% moisture
content.

The percentage of stained rice was determined in 100 g of grain,

in triplicate, according to the method described by the Brazilian
Ofcial Standards for Rice Classication (BRASIL, 2009). The grains
or broken grains that presented dark stains and/or fungal
contamination (mould or mildew) visible to the naked eye,
regardless of the size of the affected area, were considered as
infected. The percentage (%) of stained rice was determined using
the following equation: Stained grains (%) = (weight of stained rice/
weight of the milled rice)  100.

137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145

2.6. Whiteness

146

92

2.2. Sample preparation

The rice whiteness was recorded with a Zaccaria milling metre

(MBZ-1, Zaccaria, Limeira, SP, Brazil), which is widely used by the
rice industries worldwide. The results were expressed using the
scale provided by the meter in GBZ units.

147
148
149
150

93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105

Dried and cleaned rice samples (300 g) were placed into 3-L
beakers. In order to evaluate the impact of using sodium bisulte
during the soaking step of parboiling on technological properties
and thiamine content of rice, sodium bisulte (SigmaAldrich Co.,
St. Louis, MO, USA) solutions at 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8, and 1.0% were
prepared with distilled water. One litre of each solution was added
to the different beakers containing the rice samples. The material
was maintained in a water bath at 65 8C for 6 h. Then, the hydrated
rice grains were autoclaved (Bio Eng. A-30, Bio Eng., Sao Paulo, SP,
Brazil) for 10 min at 116 8C, which constituted the second step of
the rice parboiling process. The hydrated-autoclaved rice grains
were allowed to stand at room temperature overnight. The nal
parboiling step was conducted in an oven (Model 400-2ND, Nova

2.7. Completely gelatinized and non-gelatinized grains

151

Completely gelatinized and non-gelatinized grains were

visually evaluated by using polarizing lters, following the
Brazilian Ofcial Standards for Rice Classication (BRASIL, 2009).
Briey, 5 replicates of 50 grains were distributed in a polarizing
lter above an articial light (Polarizadora de arroz 11635, Comag,
Panambi, RS, Brazil). The grains were placed side by side. Another
polarizing lter was placed above the grains in a position that
provided the misalignment of the light beam by the lters.
Completely gelatinized grains are totally vitreous under polarized
light, since there is no light diffraction within the grain, while

152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161

46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78

Lamberts et al., 2006). More recently, Lamberts et al. (2008)

studied the formation of brown pigments in rice as an effect of
the parboiling conditions, and suggested that Maillard reactions
were mainly responsible for the browning of rice during the
steaming step of parboiling. Maillard reactions involve the
reaction of carbonyl groups of reducing sugars and the amino
groups of amino acids (mainly lysine), peptides, or proteins.
Several food additives have been used to prevent the browning
of foods. These food additives can be synthetic chemicals or natural
substances added to food for colour preservation or for improving
its avour, taste or appearance (FAO/WHO, 2008). Among the main
food additives, sultes (sodium and potassium sulte, bisultes
and metabisultes, sulphur dioxide, sodium sulphate) are widely
used by the food industry as antioxidants, decolourants, our
treatment agents, and preservatives (Zhang et al., 2014). Additionally, sulte technology has been used to control postharvest losses
in banana (Williams et al., 2003), green gs (Cantn et al., 2011),
lemon (Smilanik et al., 1995), litchi (Lichter et al., 2000) and
raspberry (Spayd et al., 1984). Although there are no studies
regarding the use of sultes in rice processing, it is possible that the
technological properties of rice could be improved by adding
sultes during the soaking step of rice parboiling. However, this
technique may represent a food safety risk, if thiamine content is
reduced or destroyed.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of using
different concentrations of sodium bisulte (0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8,
1.0%) during the soaking step of rice parboiling on thiamine and
sulte content, as well as to examine important technological
properties of parboiled rice such as broken grains and stained
grains percentage, whiteness, cooking time, hardness, and
percentage of completely gelatinized and non-gelatinized grains.
In addition, the pasting properties of parboiled rice were
determined.

79

Please cite this article in press as: Vanier, N.L., et al., Thiamine content and technological quality properties of parboiled rice treated with
sodium bisulte: Benets and food safety risk. J. Food Compos. Anal. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2015.02.008

G Model

YJFCA 2554 16
N.L. Vanier et al. / Journal of Food Composition and Analysis xxx (2015) xxxxxx

162
163
164
165
166

completely non-gelatinized grains are totally opaque under

polarized light, since the light is diffracted within the grain. The
number of completely gelatinized and non-gelatinized rice
grains in each sample was quantied and expressed as
percentage.

167

2.8. Pasting properties of non-parboiled and parboiled rice

168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181

The pasting properties of non-parboiled and parboiled rice

samples were determined by using a Rapid Visco Analyzer (RVA
4, Newport Scientic Pty. Ltd., Warriewood, Australia), according
to the Method 61-02 of the American Association of Cereal
Chemists (AACC, 2000). A sample (3.0 g, 12 g/100 g wet basis)
was weighed directly in the RVA canister and 25 mL of distilled
water was added. The sample was held at 50 8C for 1 min and
then the temperature was increased to 95 8C at a rate of 11.84 8C/
min. After holding at 95 8C for 2.5 min, the temperature was
decreased to 50 8C and held for 1.4 min. The slurry was under
constant stirring and the total run time was 12.5 min. The
determined parameters included pasting temperature, peak
viscosity, holding viscosity, breakdown, nal viscosity and
setback.

182

2.9. Cooking time and hardness

183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205
206
207
208
209
210
211
212
213
214
215
216
217

The optimal cooking time for the non-parboiled and parboiled

rice, prepared by using the different sodium bisulte solutions
during hydration step of parboiling, was determined using the
Ranghino test (Mohapatra and Bal, 2006). Approximately 100 mL
of distilled water was boiled (98  1 8C) in a 250-mL beaker, and
10 g of rice sample was placed into the boiling water. The
measurement of cooking time was taking after 10 min and at every
min thereafter. Ten grains of rice were removed and pressed between
two clean glass plates to assess their degree of cooking. The nal
cooking time was recorded when at least 90% of the grains no longer
had an opaque core or an uncooked centre. The rice was then allowed
to simmer for approximately 2 min longer to ensure that the cores of
all the grains were completely gelatinized.
Textural prole analysis (TPA) of the non-parboiled and
parboiled rice samples was performed using a texture analyzer
(TA-XT2, Texture Technologies Corp., Hamilton, MA, USA) with a
5-kg load cell using a two-cycle compression method (Park et al.,
2001). The texture analyzer was coupled to a computer that
Q5 recorded the data via the XT.RA Dimension software program (v.
8, Texture Technologies Corp., Hamilton, MA, USA). The rice
samples were prepared by cooking samples of 10 g of rice in a
250-mL beaker with 200 mL of distilled water at 100  1 8C until
the white core disappeared. The cooked rice was completely
drained of water using a strainer, and the surface moisture of the
samples was removed by blotting. The cooked rice samples were
maintained on the base so that testing could be conducted while
the samples were still hot (Juliano et al., 1984). A 20-mm diameter
probe was used to compress 23 grains, with pre-test and post-test
speeds of 1 mm min 1 and a test speed of 5.0 mm min 1. A twocycle compression force versus time program was used to
compress the samples to 90% of their original thickness, after
which the probe was returned to its original position before
performing the second compression test. Hardness was determined
from the test curves. The textural analyses were replicated 10 times
per sample.

218

2.10. Statistical analysis

219
220
221

Data analysis was carried out by analysis of variance (ANOVA).

Comparison of the means was performed by Tukeys test at 5% level
of signicance.

3. Results and discussion

222

3.1. Thiamine and residual sulte content

223

Parboiled rice without using sodium bisulte treatment

presented the highest thiamine content of 0.11 g/100 g among
all samples of rice studied (Table 1). All samples of parboiled rice
treated with sodium bisulte at different concentrations presented
the lowest values and inferior to the limit of detection level of
0.01 mg/100 g. This result is corroborated by previous reports
which indicated that thiamine in foods is cleaved and inactivated
by sulfating agents (Davidson, 1992; Studdert and Labuc, 1991).
The residual sulte content in rice grains after parboiling is
presented in Table 1. Comparing the present sulte content to the
sulte limits established by Codex Alimentarius Commission (FAO/
WHO, 1995) for different food categories, the rice treated with up
to 0.6% sodium bisulte, which presented 88.2 mg/100 g, had a
lower value than the limits established for dried fruits of 100.0 mg/
100 g, but higher than the limits established for dried vegetables of
50 mg/100 g. Sulte has not been approved to be used in rice
commercially, nor has any sulte limit been ofcially established
for rice. It was determined that sulte severely reduced thiamine
content (Table 1). The inadequate consumption or impaired
absorption of thiamine promotes several types of damage to the
nervous and cardiovascular systems, leading to a syndrome called
beriberi (Bravata et al., 2014). Therefore, fortication with
thiamine would be needed to compensate its loss due to sulte
treatment. More research needs to be done to assess the risks
versus benets of using sulte during the soaking step of rice
parboiling.

224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249

3.2. Broken grains, stained grains and rice whiteness

250

The percentage of broken grains and stained grains as a function

of sodium bisulte concentration is presented in Fig. 1. The
percentage of broken grains and stained grains are important
parameters of rice quality. Broken grains present a completely
different cooking behaviour compared to whole grains (Saleh and
Meullenet, 2012). The format and high amylose leaching makes
broken rice more sticky after cooking, with resulting effect on
consumer acceptability. Stained grains are also not considered very
acceptable by consumers. Additionally, depending on the severity
of mould infection, these grains can represent a health risk for
consumers (Miller, 1995).
The presented graphical data (Fig. 1) show that there was a
decrease (p < 0.05) in the percentage of broken grains after milling,
when rice was parboiled at 0, 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6% of sodium bisulte.
The parboiling of rice promotes the partial or even total collapse of

251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262
263
264
265

Table 1
Thiamine and sulte content of non-parboiled rice and sodium bisulte treated
parboiled rice.
Treatments
Non-parboiled
Parboiled**
0.00%
0.20%
0.40%
0.60%
0.80%
1.00%

Thiamine content
(mg/100 g)
0.08b*
a

0.11
<0.01c
<0.01c
<0.01c
<0.01c
<0.01c

Sulte content
(mg/100 g)

40.0e*
64.3d
88.2c
118.2b
141.9a

*
Results are the means of three determinations with standard deviation lower
than 5%. Values followed by different letters in the same column are signicantly
different (p < 0.05). Limit of detection = 0.01 mg/100 g.
**
Treatments indicate the percentage of sodium bisulte used during soaking
step of parboiling.

Please cite this article in press as: Vanier, N.L., et al., Thiamine content and technological quality properties of parboiled rice treated with
sodium bisulte: Benets and food safety risk. J. Food Compos. Anal. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2015.02.008

G Model

YJFCA 2554 16
4

N.L. Vanier et al. / Journal of Food Composition and Analysis xxx (2015) xxxxxx

Fig. 1. Percentage of broken grains and stained grains.

Fig. 2. Whiteness (GBZ) of parboiled milled rice as a function of sodium bisulte

concentration used during soaking step of parboiling.

266
267
268
269
270
271
272
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303

starch granules, by disordering its semi-crystalline and amorphous

domains (Lamberts et al., 2009). The drying process that occurs
after the hydration and autoclaving steps of parboiling provides
the rearrangement of gelatinized starch within rice grains, making
parboiled rice more compact and hard, without the presence of
crystalline domains or even intercellular spaces within the grain.
When rice was subjected to 0.8 and 1.0% of sodium bisulte during
soaking step of parboiling, the rearrangement of starch and protein
molecules was not strong enough to support the tension exerted by
rice polishers, leading to a similar percentage of broken grains to
non-parboiled rice.
In the present study, there was an increase (p < 0.05) in the
percentage of stained grains in parboiled rice without using
sodium bisulte compared to non-parboiled rice (Fig. 1). When
sodium bisulte was used, even at the lowest concentration of
0.2%, there was a decrease (p < 0.05) in the percentage of stained
grains compared to non-parboiled rice and rice parboiled without
using sodium bisulte. Since the percentage of stained grains of
sodium bisulte-treated rice was even lower than those from nonparboiled rice, it is possible to infer that sodium bisulte has acted
as a bleaching agent.
Rice whiteness, as a function of different sodium bisulte
concentrations used in soaking step of parboiling, is presented in
Fig. 2. The parboiling conditions greatly affect parboiled rice
colour. According to Bhattacharya (1996), rice acceptability to
consumers is highly inuenced by colour. A darker grain is an
indicative of severe parboiling conditions and this grain is less
preferred by consumers than white grains. The benecial effect of
sodium bisulte in this case was to signicantly (p < 0.05) increase
the whiteness of parboiled rice. The lowest concentration of
sodium bisulte of 0.2% was able to increase rice whiteness by 21%,
measured as GBZ unit. Moreover, no signicant difference
(p < 0.05) in rice whiteness was determined among all different
concentrations (0.2, 0.4, 0.6, 0.8 and 1.0%) of sodium sulte used in
the present study. The whiteness of sodium bisulte-treated rice
was similar (p < 0.05) to the whiteness of non-parboiled rice (data
not shown), which supported the previous statement that sodium
sulte acted as a bleaching agent.

and uniform structural rearrangement than non-totally gelatinized

rice, it does not present any area where the beam can diffract, being
completely translucent. On the other hand, completely nongelatinized rice presents intact starch granules in its endosperm,
with well-delimited semi-crystalline and amorphous domains, and
various intercellular spaces. This condition causes beam diffraction, which makes the grain opaque when analyzed using
polarizing plates. In order to compare the effect of adding sodium
bisulte during the soaking step of parboiling on the efciency of
starch gelatinization, completely gelatinized (totally translucent)
and completely non-gelatinized (totally opaque) grains were
quantied (Fig. 3). The lowest level of 0.2% sodium bisulte used in
this study was able to promote a 45% increase in completely
gelatinized grains and a 60% decrease in completely nongelatinized grains, compared to their respective controls (without
sodium bisulte). The results of this evaluation reect that the
gelatinization process was facilitated by the use of sodium
bisulte.
Table 2 presents the pasting properties of rice that were
measured in order to support the gelatinization results obtained
using polarizing lters. Parboiled rice presented a higher pasting
temperature and lower peak and nal viscosities than nonparboiled rice. A similar observation was previously reported by
Rao and Juliano (1970) and Lamberts et al. (2009). The signicantly

304
305

3.3. Completely gelatinized and non-gelatinized grains and pasting

properties (RVA) of non-parboiled and parboiled rice

306
307
308

The efciency of parboiling process on rice starch gelatinization

can be visualized by evaluating parboiled grains using polarizing
lters. Since completely gelatinized rice suffered from a more rigid

Fig. 3. Completely gelatinized and non-gelatinized rice grains (%) as a function of

sodium bisulte concentration used during soaking step of parboiling.

Please cite this article in press as: Vanier, N.L., et al., Thiamine content and technological quality properties of parboiled rice treated with
sodium bisulte: Benets and food safety risk. J. Food Compos. Anal. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2015.02.008

309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332

G Model

YJFCA 2554 16
N.L. Vanier et al. / Journal of Food Composition and Analysis xxx (2015) xxxxxx

Table 2
Pasting properties of non-parboiled rice and sodium bisulte treated parboiled rice.
Treatments
Non-parboiled
Parboiled**
0.00%
0.20%
0.40%
0.60%
0.80%
1.00%

Pasting temperature (8C)

f*

68.52

84.45a
81.90b
79.93c
79.10cd
77.95de
77.80e

Peak viscosity (RVU)

a

245.94

12.92c
26.69b
27.33b
33.47b
31.08b
32.89b

Breakdown (RVU)
a

81.20

2.78b
3.33b
5.03b
4.83b
5.03b
4.31b

Setback (RVU)
133.86

7.78d
10.89cd
14.00bc
14.25b
14.41b
13.70bc

Final viscosity (RVU)

300.38a
17.92e
35.13d
36.30d
41.88b
40.47bc
39.71c

*
Results are the means of three determinations with standard deviation lower than 10%. Values followed by different letters in the same column are signicantly different
(p < 0.05).
**
Treatments indicate the percentage of sodium bisulte used during soaking step of parboiling.

333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353

(p < 0.05) higher pasting temperatures, and lower peak and nal
viscosities determined in the parboiled rice, conrmed that the
gelatinization of starch granules was fully achieved under all
sodium bisulte treatments. The use of sodium bisulte reduced
(p < 0.05) the pasting temperature of parboiled rice and provided
an increase (p < 0.05) in nal viscosity compared to parboiled rice
without using sodium bisulte.
Pan et al. (2005) studied the viscosity of rice bran proteins as
affected by sodium sulte. The authors explained the increase in
viscosity of 0.5 M sodium sulte-treated sample over the control
by a decrease in protein solubility due to disulde bond cleavage.
According to Kelapathy et al. (1996), sultes cleave the inter- and
intra-disulde bonds in protein molecules minimizing intermolecular interaction. It is therefore hypothesized that the weak
interactions of proteins in sulte-treated rice, due to cleavage of
disulde bonds, provided a weak protein matrix, which favoured
the observed initial and nal viscosities of gelatinized starch
granules. The lower solubility of sulte-treated proteins may have
helped to facilitate the water holding capacity of gelatinized starch
granules, increasing the peak viscosity of sulte-treated rice
compared to rice parboiled without using sodium bisulte.

354

3.4. Cooking time and hardness

355
356
357
358
359
360
361

The data obtained from cooking time and hardness after

cooking of non-parboiled and parboiled rice are presented in
Fig. 4. There was an increase (p < 0.05) in cooking time and
hardness of rice when parboiled without using sodium bisulte,
compared to non-parboiled rice. However, the cooking time of
parboiled rice prepared using 0.2, 0.4 and 0.6% sodium bisulte
was not signicantly different (p < 0.05) from either non-parboiled

rice or parboiled rice without sodium bisulte treatment. But a

signicant decrease of 19.4% in cooking time was determined in
parboiled rice treated with 0.8% and 1.0% sodium bisulte, when
compared to untreated parboiled rice. This signicant decrease in
cooking time may be related to the weaker and more hydrophobic
structure of the proteins after severe disulde bond cleavage at the
highest levels of bisulte treatment (0.8 and 1.0%) used in this
study.
As hypothesized for peak and nal viscosities, a weak and less
soluble protein matrix after parboiling using sulte may have
boosted the absorption of water by gelatinized starch granules,
leading to a reduced cooking time. Untreated parboiled rice
presented the highest hardness value, and then decreased for all
sodium bisulte-treated rice. Moreover, no signicant difference
(p < 0.05) in hardness was determined as a function of sodium
bisulte concentration.

362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377

4. Conclusion

378

The use of sodium bisulte during the soaking step of

parboiling, at the lowest concentration used in the present study
of 0.2%, was able to signicantly (p < 0.05) promote a whiter colour
of parboiled rice, a decrease in the percentage of stained grains, and
an increase in the percentage of completely gelatinized grains
compared to untreated parboiled rice. Moreover, the cooking time
of parboiled rice treated with up to 0.6% sodium bisulte was
similar than the cooking time of both non-parboiled rice and
parboiled rice without sodium bisulte treatment. However, the
reduction of thiamine by sulte is a risk associated with the
treatment. Therefore, careful consideration needs to be given to the
risks vs. benets derived from the use of sodium bisulte during
parboiling of rice. Further studies, including thiamine fortication
and in vivo animal studies are recommended to ensure the safe use
of sulte in parboiled rice.

379
380
381
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393

Acknowledgments

394

We would like to thank Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Q6395

Pessoal de Nvel Superior (CAPES), Conselho Nacional de Desen- Q7396
volvimento Cientco e Tecnologico (CNPq), Fundacao de Amparo a` 397
Pesquisa do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (FAPERGS), Secretaria da 398
Ciencia e Tecnologia do Estado do Rio Grande do Sul (SCT-RS) and 399
Polo de Inovacao Tecnologica em Alimentos da Regiao Sul.
400

Fig. 4. Cooking time (s) and hardness (N) of non-parboiled rice and sodium bisulte
treated parboiled rice.

References

401

American Association of Cereal Chemists (AACC), 2000. Approved Methods of the

American Association of Cereal Chemists. American Association of Cereal
Chemists, Inc., St. Paul, MN, USA.
Ali, S.Z., Bhattacharya, K.R., 1980. Changes in sugars and amino acids during
parboiling of rice. Journal of Food Biochemistry 4, 169179.

402
403
404
405
406

Please cite this article in press as: Vanier, N.L., et al., Thiamine content and technological quality properties of parboiled rice treated with
sodium bisulte: Benets and food safety risk. J. Food Compos. Anal. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2015.02.008

G Model

YJFCA 2554 16
6

407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447

N.L. Vanier et al. / Journal of Food Composition and Analysis xxx (2015) xxxxxx

AOAC, 2005. Ofcial Methods of Analysis, eighteenth ed. Association of Ofcial

Analytical Chemists, Gaithersburg, MD.
Bhattacharya, S., 1996. Kinetics on colour changes in rice due to parboiling. Journal
of Food Engineering 29, 99106.
Bhattacharya, K.R., Rao, P.V.S., 1966. Effect of processing conditions on quality of
parboiled rice. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 14, 476479.
BRASIL, 2009. Ministerio da Agricultura, Pecuaria e Abastecimento. Comissao
Tecnica de Normal e Padroes, Regulamento Tecnico do Arroz. Instrucao Normativa N8 06, de 16.02.2009.
Bravata, V., Minafra, L., Callari, G., Gel, C., Grimaldi, L.M.E., 2014. Analysis of
thiamine transporter genes in sporadic beriberi. Nutrition 30, 485488.
Cantn, C.M., Palou, L., Bremer, V., Michailidis, T.J., Crisosto, C.H., 2011. Evaluation of
the use of sulfur dioxide to reduce postharvest losses on dark and green gs.
Postharvest Biology and Technology 59, 150158.
Davidson, M.G., 1992. Thiamine deciency in a colony of cats. Veterinary Record
130, 9497.
Demont, M., Zossou, E., Rutsaert, P., Ndour, M., Mele, P.V., Verbeke, W., 2012.
Consumer valuation of improved rice parboiling techniques in Benin. Food
Quality and Preference 23, 6370.
FAO/WHO, 1995. Codex Alimentarius Commission: General Standards for Food
Additives, Codex-Stan 192-1995 Updated in 2013, pp. 9193.
FAO/WHO, 2008. Codex Alimentarius Commission: Procedure Manual, seventeenth
ed. Rome, Italy.
Heinemann, R.J.B., Behrens, J.H., Lanfer-Marquez, U.M., 2006. A study on the
acceptability and consumer attitude towards parboiled rice. International
Journal of Food Science and Technology 41, 627634.
Juliano, B.O., Perez, C.M., Alyo-Shin, E.P., Romanov, V.B., Blakeney, A.B., Welsh, L.A.,
1984. International cooperative test on texture of cooked rice. Journal of
Texture Studies 15, 357376.
Kelapathy, U., Hettiarachchy, N.S., Myers, D., Rhee, K.C., 1996. Alkali-modied soy
proteins: effects of salts and disulde bond cleavage on adhesion and viscosity.
Journal of the American Oil Chemists Society 73, 10631066.
Lamberts, L., Brijs, K., Mohamed, R., Verhelst, N., Delcour, J.A., 2006. Impact of
browning reactions and bran pigments on color of parboiled rice. Journal of
Agricultural and Food Chemistry 54, 99249929.
Lamberts, L., Bie, E.D., Vandeputte, G.E., Veraverbeke, W.S., Derycke, V., Walter De
Man, W.D., Delcour, J.A., 2007. Effect of milling on colour and nutritional
properties of rice. Food Chemistry 100 (4), 14961503.
Lamberts, L., Rombouts, I., Brijs, K., Gebruers, K., Delcour, J.A., 2008. Impact of
parboiling conditions on Maillard precursors and indicators in long-grain rice
cultivars. Food Chemistry 110, 916922.

Lamberts, L., Gomand, S.V., Derycke, V., Delcour, J.A., 2009. Presence of amylose
crystallites in parboiled rice. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 57,
32103216.
Lichter, A., Dvir, O., Rot, I., Akerman, M., Regev, R., Wiesblum, A., Fallik, E., Zauberman, G., Fuchs, Y., 2000. Hot water brushing: an alternative method to SO2
fumigation for color retention of litchi fruits. Postharvest Biology and Technology 18, 235244.
Miller, J.D., 1995. Fungi and mycotoxins in grain: implications for stored products
research. Journal of Stored Products Research 31, 116.
Mohapatra, D., Bal, S., 2006. Cooking quality and instrumental textural attributes of
cooked rice for different milling fractions. Journal of Food Enginering 73, 253
259.
Monks, J.F., Vanier, N.L., Casaril, J., Berto, R.M., de Oliveira, M., Gomes, C.B., de
Carvalho, M.P., Dias, A.R.G., Elias, M.C., 2013. Effects of milling on proximate
composition, folic acid, fatty acids and technological properties of rice. Journal
of Food Composition and Analysis 30, 7379.
Padua, A.B., Juliano, B.O., 1974. Effect of parboiling on thiamine, protein and fat of
rice. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 25, 697701.
Pan, Z., Cathcart, A., Wang, D., 2005. Thermal and chemical treatments to
improve adhesive property of rice bran. Industrial Crops and Products 22,
233240.
Rao, S.N.R., Juliano, B.O., 1970. Effect of parboiling on some physicochemical
properties of rice. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 18, 289294.
Saleh, M., Meullenet, J-F., 2012. Broken rice kernels and the kinetics of rice hydration and texture during cooking. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture
93, 16731679.
Smilanik, J.L., Margosan, D.A., Henson, D.J., 1995. Evaluation of heated solutions of
sulfur dioxide, ethanol, and hydrogen peroxide to control postharvest green
mold of lemons. Plant Disease 79, 742747.
Spayd, S.E., Norton, R.A., Hayrynen, L.D., 1984. Inuence of sulfur dioxide generators
on red raspberry quality during postharvest storage. Journal of Food Science 49,
10671069.
Studdert, V.P., Labuc, R.H., 1991. Thiamin deciency in cats and dogs associated
with feeding meat preserves with sulphur dioxide. Australian Veterinary
Journal 68, 5457.
Williams, O.J., Raghavan, G.S.V., Golden, K.D., Gariepy, Y., 2003. Postharvest storage
of giant Cavendish bananas using ethylene oxide and sulphur dioxide. Journal of
the Science of Food and Agriculture 83, 180186.
Zhang, J.B., Zhang, H., Wang, H.L., Zhang, J.Y., Luo, P.J., Zhu, L., Wang, Z.T., 2014. Risk
analysis of sultes used as food additives in China. Biomedical and Environmental Sciences 27, 147154.

Please cite this article in press as: Vanier, N.L., et al., Thiamine content and technological quality properties of parboiled rice treated with
sodium bisulte: Benets and food safety risk. J. Food Compos. Anal. (2015), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfca.2015.02.008

448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470
471
472
473
474
475
476
477
478
479
480
481
482
483
484
485
486
487
488