Since the establishment of the USDA-ARS Rice Quality Laboratory in the 1950s, we have committed to provide service to the Federal and State breeding programs by evaluating U.S. breeding lines to ensure that all future U.S. varieties have quality traits acceptable to the rice industry. In addition, we have been conducting research to better understand cooking and processing traits of importance ...

Introduction Isoflavones are natural bioactives associated with a variety of beneficial health effects including reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease, lowering the rate of some cancers and improving bone health among other claims (Kano et al., 2006). One of the most abundant aglycone form of isoflavones found in soybean is genistein, 4',5,7-trihydroxyisoflavone (Crupi et al., 2007). Geni...

The suitability of corn fractions (break meal: 250-500 µm; flour: < 150 µm) from hybrids with different amylose contents (conventional: 18%; high-amylose: 42%; waxy: 2%) and their blends, to produce co-extruded snacks was assessed. Corn flour exhibited a higher content in total soluble phenolic acids (+34%) than break meal. high-amylose hybrid maintained antioxidant capacity acid (+52% for + 54...

Starches were purified from barley flours milled from Waxbar, Glacier, high-amylose Glacier (HAG) and hull-less high-amylose Glacier (HHAG) cultivars. Wheat starch, maize amylopectin, maize amylose, and normal maize starch were used for comparative controls. Starches were either boiled or moisture-autoclaved (3 or 12 times) with subsequent cooling overnight, after which enzyme-resistant starch ...

Type 2 diabetes is a metabolic disorder with established, well-defined precursors. Obesity and insulin resistance are amongst most important factors in predisposition to diabetes. Rice is a staple for about half the global population and its consumption has been strongly linked with diabetogenesis. We assert that tackling the prevalence of predisposing factors by modifying certain rice cultivar...

Red rice in the US is an aggressive weed that reduces the yield of rice and contaminates its grain. It is the same species as rice, which provides an opportunity for intercrossing. This genetic similarity complicates the management of red rice in fields and rice mills, but also indicates a potential for its use in rice breeding or niche markets. Physicochemical and cooking quality characteristi...

Amylose, a component of starch with increasing biotechnological significance, is a linear glucose polysaccharide that self-organizes into single- and double-helical assemblies. Starch granule packing, gelation and inclusion-complex formation result from finely balanced macromolecular kinetics that have eluded precise experimental quantification. Here, graphics processing unit (GPU) accelerated ...

Granule-bound starch synthase (GBSS) is responsible for amylose synthesis, but the role of GBSS genes and their encoded proteins remains poorly understood in banana. In this study, amylose content and GBSS activity gradually increased during development of the banana fruit, and decreased during storage of the mature fruit. GBSS protein in banana starch granules was approximately 55.0 kDa. The p...

To understand the relationships between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the waxy gene and starch parameters in common rye, we performed sequence characterization, enzyme activity testing, amylopectin/amylose ratio evaluation, starch property testing, and correlation analysis. Specific primers were used to clone waxy from 20 rye cultivars. Sequence analysis showed that waxy was 2852 bp...