Abstract:
Cereals are a significant part of the global diet and staple food in developing nations. The majority of developing nations rely heavily on rice as a staple food. The consumption of grains that sprouted is good for health as germination triggers the activation and synthesis of hydrolytic enzymes that improve nutrient absorption and digestibility for health benefits. The use of short duration rice varieties for value addition can also help in additional income generation to primary producers. In the present study, the germination parameters of rice (WGL 44) were assessed. The findings showed that germinated percentage was highest at 48 hours with 98.00 ± 0.06% and a mean score of 68.28±7.84%. The non-germination percentage was highest for 6 hours with 91.32±0.06 and mean score of 31.71±7.84. The vitamin C content for 24 hours of germinated rice was highest with 78.25 ± 0.15 mg/100g at 24 hours and mean value of 35.6±4.03 mg/100g from 0 to 54 hours of germination. The milling yield of raw and 24 hours germinated rice were highest with 80.59±0.02 and 76.24±0.01% respectively. Similarly, the husk percent of raw and 24 hours germinated were 19.41±0.02 and 23.63 ±0.01% respectively which was lowest among the various time intervals with significant differences at p<0.01 for milling yield and husk percentage at different intervals. The sensory parameters for cooked rice were best at 24 hours germinations and the best-accepted germination time was 24 hours. There was a statistically significant differences at p ≤ 0.01 for the sensory attributes at the different duration of germination after cooking.