Factors Affecting Sensory Quality of Cooked japonica Rice

The sensory quality of cooked rice is an important factor in determining its market price, as well as consumer acceptance and breeding efforts aimed at improvement of rice grain quality. In this study, the sensory quality and physicochemical properties of three japonica rice varieties harvested in two different growing locations (Xiangshui and Hangzhou of China) were compared to determine the most important factors affecting the sensory quality. All the three varieties had higher scores for overall sensory quality in Xiangshui than in Hangzhou, indicating that the growing location is a key factor in determining the sensory quality of cooked japonica rice. In addition to growing location, variety (genotype) also had an important effect. Longdao 18 scored the highest for overall sensory quality in the two locations, whereas Longdao 30 had the lowest score in Xiangshui, and both Longdao 20 and Longdao 30 had the lowest scores in Hangzhou. Many physicochemical properties, such as apparent amylose content, protein content, thermal properties and free amino acid contents, showed significant differences between the two locations. Correlation analysis showed that apparent amylose content and protein content had contrasting effects on all the sensory attributes. The overall sensory quality was negatively correlated with protein content (r = −0.89, P < 0.01) and positively correlated with gel hardness (r = 0.91, P < 0.01), indicating that the protein content and hardness are important physicochemical properties for predicting the sensory quality of japonica rice. These findings will provide guidance for selection from the diverse genotypes available to develop new varieties with the desired eating and cooking quality.