Objective

Dr. Robin M. Sounders heads the team of USDA food scientists working at the Western Regional Research Center in Albany to develop new products made from rice to expand the market demand for California grown rice. He examines the center's new blended rice-soy-milk food for infants. Directly beyond him is a sample jar o f rice germ in which a commercial interest has been generated because of its high nutritional properties and consumer acceptance.

Increase the demand for and use of California rice through development of new rice products and improved cooking performance.

Rice product development research to expand the demand for California rice began with the USDA and the University of California in 1974. In 1980, $17,500 in California rice industry support to USDA rice utilization research attracted over $200,000 in federal funds, significantly supporting the effort to develop new domestic uses specifically for California rice.

Research has concentrated on reducing stickiness of cooked California rice, expanding uses of rice flour, and on the development, utilization, and stability of other new rice products. The results:

• Research and development, and writing of specifications completed on new blended rice food, rice-soy-milk (RSM), intended for eventual government purchase programs for children and lactating women, including the Food for Peace Program in developing countries.
• Grinding rice flour in different types of mills produced flours with differing particle size and widely differing properties for intended food uses.
• Rice germ has nutritional properties, stability characteristics, and initial consumer acceptance, warranting its selective milling for food uses.
• Rice brokens and second heads can be converted to a high protein rice flour with nutritional advantages as a baby weaning food and a liquid sugar byproduct.
• Stabilization study of rice bran in a cooker-extruder is under way at a California rice mill. A regression equation relating dietary fiber and crude fiber has been established for rice foods and rice milling fractions.