Abstract

Rice, the staple food crop in this country, has been under cultivation from time immemorial. A large number of varieties exist to suit several soils, tracts or conditions of cultivation. The chemical com- position of some of these varieties due to differences in cultural operations, and different methods of preparation of the grain for consumption has engaged the attention of Sadasivan and Srinivasan (5) and Subrahmanyam et al. (8). The present investigation attempts to assess the differences in the net-protein values of proteins in rice flour as induced by (i) the two kinds of water used for irrigation of the crop and (ii) the difference in the preparation of rice flour, the material taken for experimentation. McCarrison (3) has done some work on "The influence of irrigation on the nutritive value of rice" and his important finding is that rice grown in puddle has a markedly lower nutritive value than the same variety raised under the rainfed conditions and this difference he partly attributes to the former containing lower amounts of water-soluble B Vitamins. Elliott (2) has proved experi- mentally that in the milling of a large number of grasses fodder samples and high protein-concentrates like decorticated groundnut cake, there is a loss by way of dust which is richer in nitrogen than the rest of the material.

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