{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.0322180916976456, 'fraction_numerical': 0.018174308137133416, 'mean_word_length': 5.009925558312655, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Characterization of a novel folic acid‐fortified ready‐to‐eat parboiled rice

Background and objectives: Effectiveness of folic acid (FA) fortification in a low amylose rice using the brown rice parboiling method was investigated. The unfortified form of the product resembles a traditional product named komal chawal , which require no cooking, or little cooking with shortened preparation time for consumption. For FA fortification, while conducting the parboiling process, brown rice was soaked in aqueous solutions of FA at five different concentrations (0.25-4.0 g/L), before the steaming step, to obtain products with five different levels of fortification. The concentrations of fortificant in the FA-fortified rice, milled for 0 s, 30 s, and 60 s, were assessed and the effects of FA fortification on the physico-chemical characteristics of the product were evaluated by comparing with the unfortified parboiled rice. Findings: Fortification elevated the total FA content in uncooked rice up to 1090 μg/g, corresponding to a FA concentration in soak water of 4.0 g/l. In terms of the appearance, the product yellowness values increased with the product FA concentrations. After rehydration at 60°C for 25 min, the hardness values of all the FA-fortified parboiled rice samples (unmilled and milled) were in the range of 152-172 g which is the range of hardness value of cooked form of the rice. Chewiness and springiness values were higher in fortified samples. Pasting properties of fortified rice samples were higher than the unfortified samples. The Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) revealed the O-H bond stretching at band range of 3000 - 3600 cm -1 , and a very small peak in the band ranged from 1740-1750 cm -1 contributed to C=O bond stretching. The FA-fortified uncooked parboiled rice showed a V-type diffraction pattern. Conclusions: FA-fortified ready-to-eat parboiled rice ( komal chawal), produced by brown rice parboiling method, has favorable textural and physico-chemical properties, with some yellowing effect of fortification noted at higher fortification levels with minimum effect on cooking characteristics. Hence, this procedure can find application in providing nutritional a ready-to-eat of FA-fortified Significance and novelty: The approach is a pragmatic way to obtain FA-fortified ready-to-eat rice or rice with reduced cooking time to combat FA deficiency among people.