Influence of blending on cooked rice palatability: Insights from untargeted metabolomics and leachate analysis

The palatability of rice is a crucial quality indicator; however, the mechanism by which blending improves rice palatability remains unclear. This study proposed a straightforward approach to improve rice palatability by blending high-amylose varieties, which generally exhibited lower palatability, with low-amylose or glutinous rice, the latter being nearly amylose-free. Various blending ratios were examined to optimize palatability, along with analyses of the physicochemical properties of blended rice, its leachate, and significantly different metabolites (SDMs). These findings revealed that a lower amylose content in the blended rice resulted in higher leachate production during cooking, with leachate containing less amylose. This contributed to the increased stickiness and reduced hardness of rice. Furthermore, a comparison of the SDMs in cooked blended and raw rice indicated that the primary SDMs were amino acids and lipid compounds.