Water absorption characteristics of paddy, brown rice

and husk during soaking

Abhay Kr. Thakur, A.K. Gupta *

Department of Processing and Food Engineering, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, Punjab State 141 004, India

Abstract

Water absorption characteristics of paddy, brown rice and husk were measured at three temperatures ranging from 30 to 60
C.
From the water absorption characteristics curve, it was observed that the husk was a significant barrier in the water absorption pro-
cess by brown rice. Using the measured moisture data, a non-linear regression method was applied to an approximate solution of the
diffusion equation MR = A1exp(
kt) for an infinite cylinder shape. The geometrical shape factor was estimated using the value of
constant A1 and the characteristics length. The predicted value of moisture content at any time was in good agreement with the
observed data. The mean values determined for the diffusion coefficients were 4.91 · 10
11 m2/s for paddy, 9.56 · 10
11 m2/s for
brown rice and 1.16 · 10
08 m2/s for husk. Analysis of variance showed that soaking temperatures did not have significant effect
on diffusion coefficients. An Arrhenius-type equation was used to relate the diffusion coefficient of paddy, brown rice and husk
to absolute temperature (K) and the energy of activation was estimated. The values determined were 31.50 kJ/mole for paddy,
37.32 kJ/mole for brown rice and 19.25 kJ/mole for husk.

Keywords: Paddy; Brown rice; Water absorption; Non-linear regression; Diffusion coefficient; Activation energy

1. Introduction and qualitative (colour, smell) changes (Pillaiyar,

Rice, the most widely grown food grain crop, serves
as the staple food for about half of the population in
world. The rice crop forms the basic economic activity
directly or indirectly for about 150 million rural house-
holds in India (Krishnaiah & Janaiah, 2000). After har-
vesting, paddy (rough rice) normally goes through two
moisture treatments; one is drying that may be required
for safe storage, and the other is water absorption in
preparation for further processing. Soaking of paddy
is one of the important activities in the processing line
for parboiled, puffed and flaked rice. Soaking causes
extensive quantitative (leachate loss, kernel bursting)
1988). Each variety of paddy has its own optimal soak-
ing time. Freshly harvested paddy absorbs water at a
lower rate than stored grain (Bhattacharya & Subba
Rao, 1966). Though differences in moisture uptake are
seen initially in paddy having different initial moisture
content, it levels off as the soaking progresses to practi-
cally the same level, irrespective of initial moisture con-
tent (Ali & Ojha, 1976).
Extensive research work has been done on modeling
diffusion of moisture during drying of different grains.
Research work on water-vapour transport mechanism
has also been conducted for various grains. Water-
vapour adsorption by dry corn and rice in jute and
woven polypropylene bags was studied by Gurinto,
Haque, and Chung (1991). Diffusion of moisture is gen-
erally enhanced by the temperature of the fluid medium
and it has an exponential relationship with the inverse
 Nomenclature
A1 constant of an approximate solution of diffu-
sion equation (decimal)
D diffusion coefficient (m2/s)
D0 diffusion constant (m2/s)
Dp geometric mean diameter (mm)
Ea activation energy (kJ/mole)
k coefficient of water absorption rate (h
1)
l characteristic length (radius of infinite cylin-
der, m)
M moisture content at any time during soaking
(% d.b.)
of the fluid temperature (Muthukumarappan &
Ganesekaran, 1990; Steffe & Singh, 1980; Walton, White,
& Ross, 1988). Thin layer moisture adsorption data were
measured for barley at different temperatures and rela-
tive humidities and fitted to Page
s model (Basunia &
Abe, 2003). The model gave a very good fit for the mois-
ture content with an average standard error of 0.176%
dry-basis. Studies conducted on soaking behaviour of
three varieties (IR-8
, Patni-23
and Sitsal
) of paddy
and reported that Becker
s model fits best (Ali, 1974).
Lu, Siebernmorgen, and Archer (1994) conducted soak-
ing tests on Newbonnet long-grain
rough rice and found
that Becker
s model fits best to the experimental data.
Water absorption characteristics of wheat and barley
during soaking were measured at five temperatures rang-
ing from 10 to 50
C and it was reported on the basis of
the water absorption curve that water absorption was in
second falling rate period (Tagawa et al., 2003). Moisture
content distribution within a wheat kernel was predicted
from a finite element diffusion model, and moisture diffu-
sion coefficients for wheat during isothermal moisture
soaking were determined (Kang & Delwiche, 1999). Pad-
dy grain is composed of two major physical compo-
nents—brown rice and husk with a bran layer in
between the two. This gives paddy grain a more complex
structure than wheat. The objective of the experiment
was to study the liquid water absorption characteristics
of paddy, brown rice and husk and determine the diffu-
sivity of liquid water transport at different soaking tem-
peratures as well as their required energy of activation.
2. Materials and methods
The paddy (cultivar PR116) used in this study was
harvested in November, 2003 at experimental farm of
the College of Agricultural Engineering, Punjab Agri-
cultural University, Ludhiana. It was packed in poly-
propylene bags and stored in an air tight metallic
store-room for about eight months. Before experiments,
M0 initial moisture content (% d.b.)
Ms moisture content at saturation (% d.b.)
MR moisture ratio (decimal)
R gas constant (kJ/mole/K)
s surface area (m2)
T soak-water temperature (K)
t soaking time (h)
v volume (m3)
k characteristics value
/ sphericity
the paddy samples were taken out, cleaned thoroughly
and defective grains removed. Only sound grains were
used for the experiment. The initial moisture content
was determined by the static air-oven drying method
at 120 ± 2
C for 24 h. A part of paddy samples were de-
husked in a rubber roll laboratory sheller (Satake Eng.
Co., Japan) to obtain brown rice and husk. The broken
grains and dust were separated from the rice and husk
samples using a standard mesh. The initial moisture of
the samples was 13.6–14% (w.b.).
Physical characteristics like 1000 grain weight, grain
dimensions and bulk density of paddy and brown rice
were determined using normal suggested methods
(AACC, 1976). Linear dimensions and weight of grains
were measured with digital vernier calipers having a res-
olution of 0.01 mm (Mitutoyo Corporation, Japan) and
an Afcoset electronic balance (FX-400) having a resolu-
tion of 0.001 g, respectively. Geometric mean diameter,
sphericity and surface area were measured as suggested
in McCabe and Smith (1984) for non-spherical particles.
Density was determined by the toluene displacement
method. Porosity percentages were calculated from the
difference between density and bulk density and divided
by density. The soaking experiments for paddy, rice and
husk were conducted at 30 ± 1 (normal temperature of
water); 45 ± 1 and 60 ± 1
C water temperatures. Sam-
ples of 20 g paddy and rice and 5 g husk were placed
separately in fiber glass nets (screen size 16 · 18) and
placed into separate glass beakers containing potable
water which were already preset to the desired tempera-
ture in a water bath. During soaking experiments, the
samples were removed at predetermined time intervals
(initially 30 min and then 1 h) and the soaked samples
(without net) were quickly blotted with paper towels
4–5 times to remove residual surface moisture (Lu
et al., 1994) and then reweighed. The increase in sample
mass during soaking in water was considered to be an
increase in sample moisture content. Another set of sam-
ples were kept in water for 50 h in order to find the sat-
uration moisture content (Ms).
2.1. Application of diffusion equation Table 1
Physical characteristics of paddy and brown rice of cultivar PR 116
The infinite series diffusion equation (Crank, 1975) Parameter Value (mean ± SD)
was used to model the water absorption process by pad- Paddy Brown rice
dy components 1. Length (L), mm 9.127 ± 0.464 7.011 ± 0.273
2. Width (W), mm 2.364 ± 0.093 2.173 ± 0.072
X
1
3. Thickness (T), mm 1.884 ± 0.065 1.732 ± 0.070
MR ¼ ðM s
MÞ=ðM s
M 0 Þ ¼ Ai expð
Dk2i tÞ ð1Þ
4. Sphericity, / = [(L Æ W Æ T)1/3]/L 0.377 ± 0.011 0.425 ± 0.009
i¼1
5. Surface area, s ¼ ðpD2p  /Þ, mm2 13.998 ± 0.741 11.834 ± 0.768
6. 1000 grain weight, g 25.424 ± 0.244 19.875 ± 0.082
where MR = moisture ratio, dimensionless, M0 = initial
7. Bulk density, g/ml 0.601 ± 0.025 0.857 ± 0.015
moisture content, % d.b., M = moisture content at any 8. Density, g/ml 1.157 ± 0.005 1.333 ± 0.009
time of soaking, Ms = saturation moisture content, % 9. Porosity, % 48.055 ± 1.219 35.731 ± 0.005
d.b., Ai = constant for a given solid shape.
For an infinite cylinder,
3.2. Soaking characteristics
Ai ¼ 4=ðk2i l2 Þ

where l = radius of infinite cylinder, and ki = geometri-
cal shape factor.
The infinite series of the right hand side of Eq. (1)
converges rapidly to the first term when the Fourier
number (F0 = Dt/l2) becomes large (Tagawa et al.,
2003) and it will give
M ¼ M s
ðM s
M 0 ÞA1 expð
Dk21 tÞ
The relationship between moisture gain by the paddy,
brown rice and husk samples and duration of soaking at
different temperatures is shown in Figs. 1–3. The rate of
moisture migration was dependent on the temperature
of soaking. The higher the soaking temperature,
the higher was the rate of moisture absorption. At
the beginning of the soaking period, a higher rate of
ð2Þ

where Dk21 ¼
k is defined as the coefficient of water 50

absorption rate. Thus the appropriate model could be 45

Moisture content, % d.b

estimated from the experimental values of A1 that were 40

evaluated by applying a non-linear regression procedure 35

30
(SPSS 8.0) to Eq. (2). The diffusion coefficients for grain
25
components (paddy, brown rice and husk) were calcu-
20
lated after fitting the absorption data to Eq. (2) and esti- 30ºC
15
mation of A1 and k (water absorption rate constant, 45ºC
10
h
1). 60ºC
5 Predicted
0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
3. Results and discussion Time, h

Fig. 1. Moisture gain by paddy at different soaking temperatures:

3.1. Physical characteristics observed and predicted values (Eq. (2)).

The variety PR116 (semi dwarf) has long slender,

clear translucent grains with good cooking quality. 50
Observations on length, width, thickness, geometric 45
mean diameter, sphericity and surface area (average of
Moisture content, % d.b

40
50 sound kernels), 1000 kernel weight, bulk density, den- 35
sity and porosity of paddy and brown rice kernel are 30
given in Table 1. The ratio of brown rice and paddy 25
was found to be 0.78. The bulk density and density of 20 30ºC
paddy were 29.87% and 13.20% less, respectively, than 15 45ºC
brown rice kernel. The low density of paddy is due to 60ºC
10
the presence of husk. This was also resulted in bulk pad- Predicted
5
dy being more porous than rice. Bhattacharya, Sow- 0
bhagya, and Indudhara Swamy (1972) reported higher 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

values of porosity for paddy than for brown rice and Time, h
milled rice. The average thickness of husk was observed Fig. 2. Moisture gain by brown rice at different soaking temperatures:
to be 0.12 mm. observed and predicted values (Eq. (2)).
 120 Table 2
Estimated values of parameters of Eq. (2) for paddy, brown rice and
Moisture content, % d.b

100 husk
Component Ms Temperature A1 k (h
1) r2 MSE
80
(
C)
60 Paddy 44.2 30 0.860 0.210 0.951 0.0035
30ºC
45 0.949 0.352 0.984 0.0015
40 45ºC 60 0.942 0.662 0.982 0.0017
60ºC
20 Brown rice 45.2 30 0.908 0.399 0.947 0.0037
Predicted
45 0.943 1.005 0.972 0.0024
0 60 0.975 1.399 0.986 0.0014
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3
Time, h Husk 107.0 30 0.990 2.042 0.990 0.0017
45 0.992 2.259 0.991 0.0019
Fig. 3. Moisture gain by husk at different soaking temperatures: 60 0.999 4.049 0.999 0.0001
observed and predicted values (Eq. (2)).

absorption was observed in the case of brown rice and
husk compared to paddy over the entire temperature
range. The results show that the husk layer provides
an initial barrier to rapid absorption of water.
3.3. Fitting of model equation
In order to fit experimental data of paddy and brown
rice to Eq. (2), the value of l
was set by considering half
of the perimeter divided by p as the effective radius of
the nominal cylinder. The estimated values of parame-
ters of Eq. (2) for paddy and brown rice obtained by
non-linear regression analysis are given in Table 2.
The value of k (coefficient of water absorption, h
1) be-
comes larger as the soaking water temperature rises
from ambient temperature to 60
C.
The average value for A1 for paddy and brown rice
found after regression analysis of the observed soaking
data were 0.917 and 0.942 with standard deviations of
0.0495 and 0.0335, respectively, which on further calcu-
lation gives values of k1l as 2.09 and 2.06 which are less
than the standard table value of 2.4048 (Tagawa et al.,
2003). The increasing value of A1 is explained by the
change in the dimensional shape factor (k1) with increase
in soaking water temperatures (Table 2). It was reported
in earlier studies that the starch molecules swell during
the process of liquid water soaking.
Using the value of characteristics length (l) =
1.352 mm for paddy and 1.243 mm for brown rice
(Table 1), the shape characteristics (k1) value were eval-
uated and the diffusion coefficients (D, m2/s) at different
soaking temperatures were calculated (Table 3). A simi-
lar procedure was applied for water absorption process
by the husk. The shape of the husk was regarded as a
sheet which a thickness of 0.12 mm. The parameters of
Eq. (2) for rice husk are also given in Tables 2 and 3.
The comparison of observed and calculated moisture
ratio for paddy, brown rice and husk was in good agree-
ment (Figs. 1–3).
The values of diffusion coefficients for paddy, brown
rice and husk (Table 3) as obtained lead to an Arrhenius
relationship of the type
D ¼ D0 expð
Ea =RT Þ ð3Þ
where D = diffusion coefficient (m2/s), D0 = constant
(m2/s), Ea = activation energy (kJ/mole), R = gas con-
stant (8.314 J/mole/K) and T = absolute temperature.
The parameters (D0) and activation energy (Ea) for
paddy, brown rice and husk are presented in Table 3.
The average value of diffusion coefficient (D) for paddy,
brown rice and husk were obtained as 4.91 · 10
11,

Table 3
Diffusion coefficient and energy of activation for paddy, brown rice and husk
Components Temperature (
C) Diffusion coefficient Activation energy Relationship r2
D (m2/s) Ea (kJ/mole)
Paddy 30 2.56E
11 31.50 D = 6.72E
06 exp (
31,500/RT) 0.99
45 4.24E
11
60 7.92E
11
Brown rice 30 3.89E
11 37.32 D = 1.15E
04 exp (
37,320/RT) 0.95
45 1.02E
10
60 1.46E
10
Husk 30 8.42E
09 19.25 D = 1.62E
05 exp (
19,250/RT) 0.84
45 9.34E
09
60 1.69E
08
Table 4
ANOVA for diffusion coefficient of paddy, rice and husk at different
temperatures
Source of variance SS df MS Fcal. Fcrit.
Temperatures 1.49E
17 2 7.45E
18 1.048 17.999
Components 2.64E
16 2 1.32E
16 18.554 17.999
Error 2.84E
17 4 7.1E
18
9.57 · 10
11 and 1.16 · 10
08 m2/s, respectively. The
effective diffusion coefficient of brown rice is approxi-
mately double the value of diffusion coefficient of paddy
and 8 · 10
3 times the diffusion coefficient of husk. This
showed that the husk layer was a significant barrier in
the process of water absorption by paddy grain. The
average moisture diffusivity of paddy (cultivar Parijata)
at an initial moisture content 20.2% d.b. and in the soak-
ing temperature range of 40–60
C was reported as
3.48 · 10
12 m2/s (Mohanty, Bal, Das, & Panda,
2002). It was also reported that the average mass diffu-
sivity of milled rice decreased from 1.78 · 10
10 to
8.33 · 10
11 m2/s as the moisture content increased from
13% to 50% (Zhang, Bakshi, Gustafson, & Lund, 1984)
during finite element analysis of the milled rice soaking
process. On the basis of a three dimensional transmis-
sion line matrix, the average moisture diffusivities for
endosperm and bran were found to be 1.09 · 10
10
and 0.22 · 10
10 m2/s, respectively, during soaking of
long-grain brown rice at 30, 40 and 50
C (Hendrickx,
Lauwerens, & Tobback, 1988).
The values obtained for effective diffusion coefficient
for paddy, brown rice and husk at different soak water
temperatures were statistically analyzed to see the signif-
icance of the rice components and different soaking tem-
peratures. The results of the analysis of variance
(ANOVA) at a 1.0% confidence level are given in Table
4. Results indicated that the values of diffusion coeffi-
cient obtained for components i.e., paddy, brown rice
and husk at different soaking temperature were non-sig-
nificant (p < 0.01). However, the mean value of the dif-
fusion coefficient for paddy, brown rice and husk differ
significantly at the 1% level of confidence.
The value of activation energy was maximum
(37.32 kJ/mole) in brown rice and minimum (19.25
kJ/mole) in husk. The low value of activation energy
(31.50 kJ/mole) in the case of paddy as compared to
brown rice (37.32 kJ/mole) could explain the effect of
husk on the water absorption process. Soaking of paddy
and brown rice showed that it is the husk layer that pro-
vided the primary barrier to rapid absorption of mois-
ture. The characteristics of husk like thickness, pore
space etc., may be important factors in water diffusivity
of paddy in addition to other varietals parameters—
kernel size, shape etc. It was also suggested in earlier
studies that if the hulls of the paddy in bulk grain could
be slightly opened by some kind of mechanical manipu-
lation, the soaking steps required in various processing
operations could be very much simplified.
4. Conclusions
The water absorption characteristics of paddy, brown
rice and husk (cultivar PR116) were studied during
soaking at three temperature levels (30, 45 and 60
C)
and modeled with a solution of the diffusion equation
to develop guidelines for various pre-processing opera-
tions. The rate of moisture gain increased with increase
in soaking temperatures and it was in the second falling
rate period. For modeling the water absorption process,
an infinite cylindrical grain shape was considered with a
characteristic length of half of the perimeter divided by
p. The shape characteristic value (k) was evaluated using
the constant (A1) of the diffusion equation as obtained
through non-linear regression. The comparison of mea-
sured data with the calculated value from the diffusion
model was in good agreement. The soaking temperature
did not show a significant effect (p < 0.01) on diffusion
coefficients of paddy, brown rice and husk. However,
the difference in effective diffusivity of paddy, brown rice
and husk were statistically found significant. The diffu-
sion coefficient of brown rice was approximately two
times greater than the paddy and 8000 times less than
that of husk. The diffusion coefficients for paddy, brown
rice and husk at different temperatures followed an
Arrhenius-type relation and the energy of activation
was estimated using parameter the Ea/R of the
Arrhenius equation. The activation energy of brown rice
was approximately 1.2 times higher than the activation
energy of paddy and 1.9 times that of the husk. Husk
imparted effective resistance to water absorption process
by paddy grain.
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