Development of UV-treated cooked germinated brown rice and effect of UV-C treatment on its storability, GABA content, and quality

• A process for producing UV-treated cooked germinated brown rice (CGBR) was proposed.
• UV-C treatments for 30 min and 60 min achieved 0.40 and 0.58 log reduction of the aerobic plate count, respectively.
• The UV-C treatment for 60 min could extend shelf life of the UV-treated CGBR for 3 days.
• The GABA content of the UV-treated CGBR was higher than that of the thermally treated CGBR.
• The UV-treated CGBR was superior in quality to the thermally treated CGBR.

A process for preparing UV-treated cooked germinated brown rice (CGBR) was developed. The UV-C exposure time was varied to study its effect on the shelf life of CGBR at room temperature (RT; 25 ± 2 °C). The germinated brown rice with the highest GABA content was cooked and radiated with UV-C for 30 and 60 min, after which the aerobic plate count was reduced by 0.40 and 0.58 log CFU/g, respectively. Their shelf lives were 1 and 3 days, respectively. The GABA contents of control CGBR, 60-UV-CGBR, and canned CGBR were 7.49, 5.11, and 1.81 mg/100 g dry matter, respectively. The whiteness and hardness of 60-UV-CGBR were not significantly different from those of control CGBR (p ≥ 0.05). These quality attributes were poorer after canning. After storing 60-UV-CGBR at RT for 3 days, the GABA content and whiteness decreased, and the hardness increased significantly. Its quality was however better than that of canned CGBR.