Chemical and physical evaluation, antioxidant and digestibility profiles of white and pigmented rice from different areas of Indonesia

Abstract Black rice and red rice are often claimed to have more health benefits than white rice. They have been reported to have greater antioxidant activity and lower digestibility than white rice, functional properties which are important to prevent the metabolic disorders related to diseases such as diabetes. However, rice grown in different areas or subjected to different processing has shown different physical, chemical and functional properties. Thus the objectives of this study were to determine the physical properties (hardness, colour and gelatinization profile), chemical properties (proximate composition, total phenolic and flavonoid contents, antioxidant capacity), and the in vitro digestibility of Solok black rice (SBR), Solok red rice (SRR), Tangerang black rice (TBR), Cianjur red rice (CRR) and Cianjur white rice (CWR) cultivated in different areas in Indonesia. The results revealed that rice cultivated in different areas showed different physical characteristics and chemical compositions. The In vitro analysis of the digestibility of the starch with α-amylase showed that pigmented rice was less digestible (56.10% to 83.43%) than white rice (87.35%). A normal cooking method commonly used in society was found to significantly reduce the total phenolic content, flavonoids and antioxidant capacity of the rice.