Optimization of High-Protein Glutinous Rice Flour Production Using Response Surface Method

A response surface method was employed to study the effect of α-amylase concentration, hydrolysis temperature and time on the production of high protein glutinous rice flour(HPGRF). The suspension of glutinous rice flour(15%) that contained 6.52% protein was gelatinized and subsequently hydrolyzed by thermostable α-amylase. The hydrolysis yielded 0.144–0.222 g/g HPGRF with 29.4%–45.4% protein content. Hydrolysis time exerted a significant effect, while enzyme concentration and hydrolysis temperature showed insignificant effect on the protein content and production yield of HPGRF. The result of response surface method showed that the optimum condition for the production of HPGRF that contained at least 36% protein was treating gelatinized 15% glutinous rice flour suspension with 0.90 Kilo Novo α-amylase Unit(KNU)/g α-amylase at 80 oC for 99 min. By carrying out the predicted hydrolysis condition, HPGRF with 35.9% protein and 61.8% carbohydrates was resulted. The process yielded 0.172 g/g HPGRF. HPGRF contained higher amount of essential amino acids compared to glutinous rice flour. HPGRF had higher solubility and lower swelling power, and also showed no pasting peak compared with glutinous rice flour.