Abstract

India is considered to be the second-highest rice producer in the world and rice is consumed conventionally as a staple food. However, there is a prevalence of the extensive tradition of making unique fermented rice products with a variety of tastes and textures that are associated with ethnic diversity. This fermented rice product is traditionally prepared by rural women using village art and is popular in Goalpara district, Assam, also, known locally as pachoi in the North Eastern Region of India. In the present investigation, fermentative production of pachoi was carried out by optimizing the fermentation parameters, viz. time, temperature, and initial pH by using response surface methodology (Box-Behnken approach), and nutritional constituents were evaluated under optimized process conditions. Experimental results revealed that carbohydrate, protein, and fat were found 52.671%, 11.89%, and 1.23%, respectively, under optimum conditions of 25? temperature, 24 h time, and pH 5.49 and higher than the value of carbohydrate, protein, and fat of 32.9%, 12.4%, and 1.1% carried out by conventional natural fermentation FP (N). There is no such difference in phenolic, flavonoid, and DPPH free radical scavenging activity in both FP (L) and FP (N).

Key words: Rice, fermentation, pachoi, RSM, nutritional value, biofunctional properties