Abstract: Instant rice was produced by explosion puffing drying at modified temperature and pressure. The effects of moisture content of the pre-drying rice and the frequency of freezing on the quality of instant rice were studied. The results show that instant rice made of the pre-drying rice without freezing and with a moisture content of 41.4% was better than those samples under other treatment conditions. Compared with instant rice on sale, instant rice sample B prepared by the explosion puffing drying has good rehydration properties. The viscosity, hardness, elasticity, taste and flavor of instant rice product sample B after re-watering were similar to the fresh rice. Instant rice product sample B just needs 8.0 min to rehydrate, and the re-hydration rate can be up to 2.57. This research shows that good quality instant rice could be prepared by explosion puffing drying technology, and it provides the technical support for industrialized production of the instant rice.

Key words: instant rice, explosion puffing drying, eating quality