Comparison of the physical properties between Malaysian and Thai Rice

Rice is a staple food in the world market, especially in the Asian region. In each country, the characteristics of rice will be different in terms of shape, grade and size. The quality of rice depends largely that demonstrate the quality of that rice species. At present, information on rice varieties is still limited regarding the physical properties of Malaysian and Thai rice. Therefore, it is important to compare rice cultivars based on origin. The objective of this research is to determine and compare the physical properties of Malaysian and Thai rice. 1 kilogram of Malaysian and Thai rice were each processed into powder by way of grinding and were then prepared for physicochemical measurement by sieving the produced rice powders with a size of 2mm to get rid of foreign objects. The physical parameters measured were length, width, length/breadth ratio, thickness, density, grain shape, surface area, bulk density, true density, porosity, sphericity, aspect ratio, thousand weight kernels angle of repose, colour (L, a*, b*) and hardness. The results of the study showed no significant differences (p>0.05) in terms of length, width, length/breadth ratio, true density, porosity, sphericity, aspect ratio, angle of repose, Lightness (L) and b*. However, there is a significant variation (p < 0.05) between Malaysian and Thai rice in terms of thickness, surface area, bulk density, thousand weight kernels, colour (a*) and hardness parameters. The evaluation of the quality of Malaysian and Thai rices can be a guide or reference for the grading and sorting processing sectors.