JPH07104280B2 - Evaluation method of rice taste - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION [Industrial application] The present invention relates to a method for evaluating the taste of rice by scientifically measuring the comprehensive evaluation value of the taste of rice.

[Conventional technology]

Conventionally, a comprehensive evaluation of the taste of rice is performed by a plurality of specialist examiners of cooked rice using the comparison items such as appearance, scent, taste, stickiness and hardness for the comprehensive evaluation of the taste of the standard rice, which is the standard of evaluation. It was carried out by repeatedly testing how excellent or inferior it was compared with them and taking the average value thereof to put them together comprehensively, that is, by a so-called sensory test. However, since this sensory test is performed based on the taste that varies from person to person, even if an average of multiple evaluation results by multiple examiners is taken, the evaluation value changes at different times and different places. However, it cannot be said that the value is constant and objective. On the other hand, the correlation between the compositional and physicochemical properties of rice measured scientifically and analytically, and the comprehensive evaluation value of the taste obtained by the sensory test was investigated, and by this, the scientific value was used to measure the rice Research is underway to conduct a comprehensive evaluation of the taste of the. As a result, among the ingredients that make up rice, the most important ones for comprehensively evaluating the taste of rice are the content ratios of amylose and amylopectin, which make up the starch quality of rice, the content ratio of protein and the content ratio of water. It turns out to be.

Next, it will be described how the content ratio of each of the components that make up rice affects the comprehensive evaluation of the taste of rice. Generally, the most popular rice brands in Japan are Koshihikari and Sasanishiki. As an example, comparing the content ratio of protein contained in white rice of each standard milling degree of several brands of rice including Koshihikari and Sasanishiki and the content ratio of amylose in starch, as shown in Table 1 below. Become.

Note that the content of each component is not always the same as shown in the table for the same brand, and the geological conditions such as soil and water quality of the cultivated production area and weather conditions such as temperature, sunshine hours and rainfall. It goes without saying that the content ratio of each component is slightly different depending on the above.

From Table 1 above, the main factors that make Koshihikari and Sasanishiki tasty are that the protein content is low and the amylose content in the starch is low compared to other common brand rice. I understand that there is.

As mentioned above, apart from the fact that the protein content and the amylose content in the starch have a great influence on the eating quality of rice, the water content of white rice is also related to the viscosity and hardness of rice when cooking rice. Have a great effect on. That is, when the water content of the white rice is about 15%, even if it is immersed in the water of the pot during rice cooking, it will be cooked into complete rice grains without cracking, but if the water content is less than 14% In this case, the water absorption rate at the time of soaking is too fast to instantly cause cracks in the rice grains, and soon a through crack in the inside of the rice grains is generated, so that water is absorbed in the cracks and the glue is drained from the cracks. Similarly, crushed rice absorbs water all at once, so it is cooked in sticky cooked rice, and because the cooked rice is crumbled, it becomes a chewy and sticky rice with a low taste. The main reason why the moisture content of white rice falls below 14% is over-drying in the post-harvest processing stage of rice, especially in the drying operation,
It can be said that the subsequent rice milling operation causes the occurrence of broken rice and the progress of drying due to frictional heat generation. Therefore, in order to prevent white rice from having a water content of less than 14% and having a reduced eating quality, it is necessary to operate the dryer to prevent over-drying in the drying operation, and in the rice polishing operation, the It is necessary to control and adjust the rice milling machine so that the generation of broken rice due to wear or the like or the excessive drying due to frictional heat generation is not induced.

It should be noted that, in addition to the contents of each of the above-mentioned components of rice, which have a great influence on the taste of rice, that is, protein, starch, and water, the content of fats and fatty acids is large and small. As described above, it affects the taste of rice, but it can be said that the degree of the influence is not so great as the content ratio of the three components.

Normally, it is difficult to secure a large amount of only single-brand rice with a good taste at rice mills, so there are several types or brands of rice with different tastes, for example, top-ranked rice and low-ranked rice in taste evaluation. By mixing and milling the rice, and adjusting the mixing ratio appropriately, it is attempted to distribute milled rice with a stable taste. However, the selection of several types of rice to be mixed and the determination of the mixing ratio are actually done based on intuition based on the data surveyed in the past, and there is no scientific support at all. In many cases, it was not possible to obtain polished rice with a stable taste as desired, and consumers often complained.

On the other hand, it has been conventionally empirically known that when rice is cooked by adding a small amount of sticky rice to non-glutinous rice (general white rice), the viscosity of the cooked rice is improved and the taste is improved. The following can be said in terms of the relationship. The starch quality is composed of amylose and amylopectin, and when the content ratio of amylose in the starch quality increases, the taste of rice tends to decrease as described in relation to Table 1 above. Therefore, when general agglutinous rice having a starch-containing amylopectin content ratio of about 78% and a small amount of sticky rice having an amylopectin content ratio of almost 100% are cooked, the amylopectin content ratio is high, that is, The taste is improved to almost the same level as the taste of rice with a low amylose content ratio (when the amylopectin content ratio exceeds a certain level, the viscosity becomes too strong, which adversely affects the taste of cooked rice).

[Problems to be solved by the invention]

As described above, the sensory test, which is one of the evaluation methods for the taste of rice, lacks objectivity, and the Brabender amylograph, texturometer, and other physical measurements, as well as the iodine colorimetric method, iodine When the amperometric method or other scientific measurement methods are used, there is a problem that the measurement takes a long time and the measured values vary unless the operator is skilled.

The present invention is intended to solve this problem,
Anyone can accurately and swiftly obtain an objective comprehensive evaluation value corresponding to the comprehensive evaluation value of rice taste obtained by sensory test based on each comparison item such as appearance, aroma, taste, stickiness, hardness of rice. It is a technical object to provide a method for evaluating the taste of rice that can be measured at any time.

[Means for solving problems]

According to the present invention, the taste evaluation coefficient is determined from the relationship between the absorbance when rice is irradiated with near-infrared light and the comprehensive evaluation value of the taste of rice obtained by sensory treatment, and the sample rice is heat-treated or chemically treated. Without measuring the absorbance by irradiating it with near-infrared light, and in the taste evaluation method of rice to obtain a comprehensive evaluation value of the taste of the sample rice from the absorbance and the taste evaluation coefficient, the sample rice is There is provided a method for evaluating the taste of rice, which comprises crushing to a substantially constant size and homogenizing by stirring, and then measuring the absorbance of near-infrared light by the sample rice.

[Action]

When irradiating different sample rices with near-infrared light, wavelengths at which a difference in absorbance appears remarkably between the sample rices are observed. The present invention utilizes this absorbance characteristic by a multiple regression analysis method for the relationship between the absorbance detection signal and the absorbance of rice when irradiated with near-infrared light and the comprehensive evaluation value of the taste of rice obtained by sensory analysis. Based on the calculated and evaluated taste evaluation coefficient, the comprehensive evaluation value of the taste of the sample rice homogenized by making the crushed grain size almost uniform and stirring is calculated and displayed.

The near-infrared light radiated to the sample rice is absorbed by the sample rice because it is a phenomenon that occurs because the chain of atoms that make up the molecule undergoes stretching vibration and bending vibration due to thermal energy. This is because the size of vibration changes in a specific near infrared wavelength range because the natural frequency differs depending on the state, resulting in heat absorption characteristics.The particle size is almost constant, and the particle size distribution is average. In various samples, the molecules uniformly appear on the particle surface, and the vibration due to the difference in the chain structure of atoms appears accurately by the irradiation of near infrared light.

Example of Invention

 A preferred embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a rice taste evaluation and measurement apparatus 1 according to the present invention when viewed from the front. Inside the cabinet 2, a near-infrared spectroscopic analysis device 3 and a control device 4 described later are arranged. On the front panel of the cabinet 2, a sample container mounting box 5 for mounting a sample container containing the sample rice to be measured,
A display device 6 for visually displaying the operation procedure and calculation results of the device 1, an operation push button 7, a printer 8 and the like are provided. The control device 4 is connected to the light source and detector of the near infrared spectroscopic analysis device, the display device 6, the operation push button 7, the printer 8 and the like, and the input / output signal processing device 4a for processing various signals and the input device. (Keyboard) Storage device 4b for storing the price of each brand rice, content rate conversion value, various correction values, various control procedures, and the like, and a computing device
It consists of 4c.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a main part of one embodiment of the near-infrared spectroscopic analyzer 3 arranged inside the cabinet 2. The illustrated near-infrared spectroscopic analyzer 3 is of a so-called reflection type, and has a light source 10, a reflecting mirror 11, a narrow band pass filter 12, an integrating sphere 13, and detectors (light receiving elements) 14a and 14b. Also,
A measuring window 70 is provided on the upper part of the integrating sphere 13 with a lighting window 15 and a bottom portion opened, and a sample container 16 is mounted on a sample container mounting box 5 provided in the measuring part 70 so as to be freely inserted and removed. .

Next, the sample crushing device will be described with reference to FIGS. The sample crushing device 17 is composed of a fixed amount supply unit 18, a crushing unit 19 and a separation unit 20, and will be described below in order from the fixed amount supply unit 18. The constant quantity supply unit 18 of the present embodiment is composed of a so-called vibration supply device, that is, the gutter bottom of the other end of the supply gutter 22 having one end opened as the discharge unit 21 is close to the drop port 24 at the lower end of the charging hopper 23, and Provided horizontally, and the other end is a leaf spring
It is formed so as to be supported by 25A and 25B and to be vibrated by a vibrator 26.

Next, regarding the crushing unit 19, a supply hopper 27 having a lower end as a supply port 28 is provided below the discharge unit 21 of the supply gutter 22.
Below the supply hopper 27, a crusher with a substantially circular upper surface
29 is provided, and a boss 32 into which a shaft 31 of a commutator motor 30 arranged below the crusher 29 is fitted is formed in the center of the lower surface of the crusher 29. On the other hand, a large number of crushing blades 33 are provided upright on the circumference of the upper surface of the crusher 29 (12 in this embodiment),
The crushing blades 33 ...
Rotates at high speed with. Reference numeral 15a is a screw portion for fixing the crusher 29 to the shaft 31.

A cylindrical perforated ring 34 is provided around the pulverizing plate 29 with a slight gap between the pulverizing blade 33, and a large number of holes 34a are formed in the perforated ring 34. The size of the hole 34a is selected according to the desired size of the sample, but in this embodiment, it is 50.
μm. Further, an outer peripheral ring 35 is provided around the perforated ring 34, and a space between the outer peripheral ring 35 and the perforated ring 34 is formed as a dust collecting path 36.

Next, the separating unit 20 will be described. The separation unit 20 mainly includes a cyclone separator 37. That is, the dust collection passage 36 and the cyclone separator 37 are tangentially connected to each other by the communication air passage 38, and the cyclone separator 37
The lower end of is exposed to the sample bottle 39 in an airtight manner. The sample bottle 39 is set on the bottle mounting table 40 which can be lowered by the spring 41.

In the vicinity of the cyclone separator 37, a tubular filter 42 made of cloth or the like, an upper ring 43 and a lower ring.
It is mounted in a state of being hung between 44 and 44, and the inner cylinder 45 of the cyclone separator 37 and the upper ring 43 are connected by a U-shaped connecting pipe 46. Further, a dust (dust) collector 47 is detachably and airtightly provided by being connected to the lower end of the lower ring 44.

Next, the stirring device will be described. FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the sample bottle 39, and FIG. 7 is a side view of the stirring device. Sample bottle
39 comprises a transparent resin or glass bottomed cylindrical bottle 48 and a resin lid (lid) 49, and the lid 49 is provided with a groove around which the upper edge of the bottle 48 is fitted, A stirring ball 51 made of metal is suspended from the bottom 49a of the lid 49 via a chain 50. There may be a plurality of stirring balls 51, and they are hung so as to contact the bottom of the bottle 48.

After the sample is put in the sample bottle 39, stirring is performed by the stirring device 52 shown in FIG. That is, the bearing portion 55 is laterally provided on the upper end of the column base 54 erected on the pedestal 53, and the rotating shaft 57 directly connected to the shaft of the electric motor 56 for low speed rotation is attached to the bearing portion 55.
And a plurality of stirring arms 58 are rotatably fixed to the end of the rotary shaft 57. The vicinity of the end of each stirring arm 58 is bent to the opposite side of the electric motor 56 to form a sample bottle mounting portion 59.
Although various means are used as the sample bottle mounting portion 59, for example, a locking piece 60 is used to attach the upper surface and the lower surface of the sample bottle 39.
A and 60B are formed, and the engaging piece 60A is engaged with the circular protrusion 61 formed on the upper surface of the lid 49, and the engaging piece 60B is engaged with the circular concave surface 62 formed on the bottom surface of the bottle 48. . further,
A rubber band 63 is provided on the sample bottle mounting part 49, and this rubber band 63
The sample bottle 39 may be fixed by 63.

The specific operation of the above embodiment will be described below. When the vibrator 26 of the sample crushing device 17 is actuated and the rice grains are charged into the charging hopper 23, the rice grains in the vicinity of the dropping port 24 are moved to the discharge section 21 side by an appropriate amount in the supply gutter 22 vibrated by the vibrator 26 and a fixed amount. Transported and ejected 21
From then on, they fall into the supply hopper 27 and are supplied onto the crusher 29 through the supply port 28.

The crusher 29 is rotated at high speed by driving the commutator motor (10,0
The rice grains supplied to the crusher 29 are repelled to the side of the perforated ring 34 by centrifugal force, and are crushed by the impact and shearing force of the crushing blades 33 that rotate at high speed, and are shattered to pieces. Be crushed. In this way, the powdery rice crushed smaller than the holes 34a of the perforated ring 34,
It leaks from the hole 34a into the dust collecting path 36.

By the way, wind is generated by the crushing blades 33 ...
Due to this wind, the rice powder crushed is crushed by the holes 34 of the perforated ring 34.
The leakage from a is promoted, and the rice flour in the rice bran passage 36 is conveyed to the cyclone separator 37 through the communication air passage 38.

The air mixed with the rice powder carried into the cyclone separator 37 flows down the conical portion in a spiral shape, and the stalled rice powder is dropped from the lower end into the sample bottle 39. On the other hand, rice powder finer than these rice powders (for example, about 20μ or less) and dust reach the filter 42 through the inner cylinder 45, the connecting pipe 46 and the upper ring 43 together with the air flow, and are filtered by the filter 42 to be the air flow only. Flows out of the filter 42, and ultrafine rice powder and dust that are unsuitable for the desired sample are dropped from the lower ring 44 into the dust collector 47. filter
The air flowing out of 42 is exhausted to the outside of the machine via a louver or the like (not shown).

In this way, about 20 to 50μ collected in the sample bottle 39
All rice flours do not have a uniform particle size distribution, and tend to be biased due to the separation of relatively large particles and small particles. Therefore, in order to agitate this sample, the bottle holder 40 is attached to the spring 41.
The sample bottle 39 is removed from the bottle mounting table 40 and the lid 49 is tightened. Sample bottle 39 closed by lid 49
Is fixed to the sample bottle mounting part 59 of the stirring arm 58, and the electric motor 56
The stirring arm 58 for activating is rotated at 100 to 200 rpm to stir the rice flour in the sample bottle 39 for a certain time. That is, the sample bottle mounting portion 59 is bent and provided with respect to the stirring arm 58, and the rice flour in the sample bottle 39 flows between the bottom portion and the lid portion as the stirring arm 58 rotates, 20-
50μ rice flour has a substantially uniform particle size distribution.

When the stirring is completed by the stirring device 52, the lid 49 of the sample bottle 39 is removed and the sample rice is filled in the sample container 16. The sample container 16 filled with sample rice is mounted in the sample container mounting box 5, and the sample container mounting box 5 is inserted into the lower end portion of the near-infrared spectroscopic analyzer 3 in the cabinet 2 to complete the measurement standard.

In the near-infrared spectroscopic analysis device 3, the light emitted from the light source 10 and converted into parallel rays through an appropriate optical system (not shown) passes through the narrow band pass filter 12 to obtain a near-specific wavelength. After the infrared monochromatic light is emitted, an integrating sphere 13 is formed by a reflecting mirror 11 configured so that the tilt angle can be freely changed.
The direction can be changed toward the lighting window 15 on the upper part of the. That is, the narrow band pass filter 12 is composed of an arbitrary plurality of filters each having different main wavelength pass characteristics,
For example, by attaching these to a rotating disk and rotating them by appropriate angles, it is possible to sequentially select and replace so that a desired filter is located on the line connecting the light source 10 and the reflecting mirror 11. Alternatively, a prism-shaped reflecting mirror may be positioned inside, and a plurality of filters may be respectively positioned at positions facing the respective surfaces of the reflecting mirror to form a prism shape, and the filter may be rotatable.

Here, the physical characteristics of the narrow band pass filter 12 will be described based on FIG. 8. The absorbance log I ₀ / I is the ratio of the reflected light amount I from the sample rice to the reference irradiation light amount (total irradiation light amount) I ₀ . It is the common logarithm of the reciprocal. The curve A shown by the solid line is Nipponbare with an amylose content of 21.4% in Table 1 above, the curve B shown by the alternate long and short dash line is Koshihikari with a content of 19.9%, and the curve C shown with a dashed line is Ishikari with a content of 23.2%. Indicates when. From the figure, the short-wavelength region of near-infrared light of 1900 nm or less is a low absorbance region, including amylose, proteins,
It is easy to understand that the difference in absorbance with respect to the content of each component of rice such as water is slight, but it is noticeable as a high absorbance difference at the wavelength of 1900 nm.
This phenomenon is used here to measure the content of amylose in rice, and the absorbance obtained by irradiating sample rice with near-infrared light in any wavelength band from the wavelength range of 1900 to 2500 nm The overall evaluation value of the taste of rice is calculated by calculating the taste evaluation coefficient converted into the evaluation value.

The taste evaluation coefficient is based on the comprehensive evaluation value of the taste by the sensory test method obtained for a large number of samples, and the value obtained by performing signal processing on the reference content rate and the absorbance measurement value from the detector of the near-infrared spectroscopic analyzer. Obtained using a multiple regression analysis program.

For example, 6 filters with different wavelengths λ ₁ = 1940nm, λ
₂ = 2100nm, λ ₃ = 2180nm, λ ₄ = 2230nm, λ ₅ = 2280nm,
It is assumed that the following linear relationship holds when λ ₆ = 2310 nm is used.

Ta = F ₀ + F ₁ · X ₁ a + F ₂ · X ₂ a + F ₃ · X ₃ a + F ₄ · X ₄ a + F ₅
・ X ₅ a + F ₆・ X ₆ a + C Ta is the comprehensive evaluation value of the taste of sample rice a measured by the sensory test method.

F _{0 to} F ₆ are coefficient values obtained by this multiple regression analysis.

X ₁ a to X ₆ a correspond to the filter numbers of λ ₁ to λ ₆ , respectively, and the absorbance (log I ₀ / I) of the sample rice a measured with a near-infrared spectroscopic analyzer.

C is an error term, and here C = 0.

Assuming that sample a is Nipponbare shown in FIG. 8A, X ₁ a =
0.61, X ₂ a = 0.60, X ₃ a = 0.56, X ₄ a = 0.53, X ₅ a = 0.
65, X ₆ = 0.67 are, the multiple regression equation _{Ta = F 0 + 0.61F 1 +} 0.60F 2 + 0.56F 3 + 0.53F 4 + 0.65F 5 +0.
It becomes 67F ₆ .

Similarly, the absorbance can be substituted into the multiple regression equation up to n sample rices to obtain the following taste evaluation coefficient.

T = 144.7 + 234.6X ₁ + 6371X ₂ -1122X ₃ + 303.7X ₄ -536.4
X ₅ −4969X _{6 In the} above formula, F ₀ = 144.7, F ₁ = 234.6, F ₂ = 6371, F
₃ = -1122, F ₄ = 303.7, F ₅ = -536.4, F ₆ = -4969 is stored in advance in the ROM of the storage device 4b, or is used as a control device via the input device 9 when measuring the sample. 4 is a taste evaluation coefficient for the taste evaluation calculation input in 4.

Therefore, the near-infrared monochromatic light that has entered the inside of the integrating sphere through the daylighting window 15 of the narrow band pass filter 13 is the measurement unit 70,
Therefore, the sample rice in the sample container 16 is irradiated from directly above. Diffuse reflected light from the sample rice, while reflecting on the inner wall of the integrating sphere 13, finally arrives at the pair of detectors 14a, 14b arranged symmetrically with respect to the measuring unit 70, The intensity of the reflected light is measured by. In the illustrated embodiment,
In order to correct the optical symmetry and to efficiently receive the reflected light from the sample rice, two detectors 14a and 14b are provided, but the number is not limited to two. 1
The number of detectors may be three or more, and the bottoms of the sample container 16 and the sample container mounting box 5 are made of a transparent material, and the detectors are provided directly below the sample rice. It may be formed so as to detect the amount of transmitted light from.

In this way, the measured values caught by the detectors 14a and 14b are communicated to the control device 4 and temporarily stored in the storage device 4b (RAM). Hereinafter, the disk of the filter 12 is rotated, the measurement by each filter is sequentially performed, and each actual measurement data is once stored in the storage device 4b and is calculated by the taste evaluation coefficient previously stored in the storage device 4b, and the display device is displayed. 6 and a hard copy is printed from the printer 8.

〔The invention's effect〕

As described above, according to the present invention, the sample rice is crushed to a substantially constant size and then homogenized by stirring, and then the absorbance of the sample rice is measured by a near-infrared spectroscopic analyzer. Since the value and the taste evaluation coefficient were calculated to obtain a comprehensive evaluation value of the taste of rice, relatively large and small particles of the sample crushed to a size within a certain range suitable for measurement It is distributed evenly with the ones, the measured values of absorbance are less scattered, the measurement accuracy is improved, and the comprehensive evaluation value of the taste of rice is obtained more accurately, which is reliable when actually comparing the taste of rice. It will be possible.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of a rice taste evaluation and measurement apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 2 is a side sectional view of a main part of a near-infrared spectroscopic analysis apparatus used in the rice taste evaluation and measurement apparatus of FIG. 3 is a front view of a partially broken surface of the sample crushing device, FIG. 4 is a plan view of a partially broken surface of the sample crushing device of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a right side view of the partially broken surface, and FIG. Is a front sectional view of a sample bottle containing a crushed sample, FIG. 7 is a side view of a stirrer, and FIG. 8 is a graph (absorbance curve) showing the relationship between near-infrared irradiation wavelength and absorbance for rice of different brands. . 1 …… Rice taste evaluation and measurement device, 2 …… Cabinet, 3
...... Near infrared spectroscopy analyzer, 4 ...... Control device, 5 …… Sample container mounting box, 6 …… Display device, 7 …… Operation push button, 8 …… Printer, 9 …… Input device, 10 ・ ・ ・… Light source, 11 …… Reflector, 12 …… Narrow bandpass filter, 13…
… Integrating sphere, 14a, 14b …… Detector, 15 …… Lighting window, 16 ……
Sample container, 17 …… Sample crushing device, 18 …… Fixed amount supply unit, 19
…… Crushing unit, 20 …… Separating unit, 21 …… Discharging unit, 22 …… Supply gutter, 23 …… Injection hopper, 24 …… Drop port, 25A, 25B ……
Leaf spring, 26 …… vibrator, 27 …… supply hopper,
28 …… Supply port, 29 …… Grinder, 30 …… Commutator motor, 31
...... Shaft, 32 ...... Boss, 33 crushing blade, 34 …… Perforated ring, 35 …… Outer ring, 36 …… Powder collection passage, 37 …… Cyclone separator, 38 …… Communication air passage, 39… … Sample bottles,
40 …… Bottle holder, 41 …… Spring, 42 …… Filter,
43 …… Upper ring, 44 …… Lower ring, 45 …… Inner cylinder, 46
...... Connecting pipe, 47 …… Dust collector, 48 …… Bottle, 49 ……
Lid, 50 ... Chain, 51 ... Stirring ball, 52 ... Stirring device, 53
…… Pedestal, 54 …… Poster, 55 …… Bearing, 56 …… Motor,
57 …… Rotary axis, 58 …… Stirring arm, 59 …… Sample bottle mounting part, 60A, 60B …… Locking piece, 61 …… Protrusion, 62 …… Concave surface, 63
…… Rubber band, 70 …… Measurement section.

Claims (5)

[Claims] 1. A taste evaluation coefficient is determined from the relationship between the absorbance of rice irradiated with near-infrared light and the comprehensive evaluation value of the taste of rice obtained by sensory evaluation, and the sample rice is heat-treated or chemically treated. However, in the method for evaluating the taste of rice, which obtains a comprehensive evaluation value of the taste of the sample rice from the absorbance and the taste evaluation coefficient, the sample rice is almost A method for evaluating the taste of rice, which comprises crushing to a certain size and homogenizing by stirring, and then measuring the absorbance of near-infrared light by the sample rice. 2. The taste evaluation method for rice according to claim 1, wherein the wavelength range of near-infrared light is 1900 to 2500 nm. 3. The taste evaluation method for rice according to claim 1, wherein the light reflected from the sample rice is received and the absorbance of near infrared light by the sample rice is measured. 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the light transmitted through the sample rice is received to measure the absorbance of near infrared light by the sample rice.
Item or the method for evaluating the taste of rice according to item (2). 5. The claim (1) or (2), wherein the absorbance of near infrared light by the sample rice is measured by receiving the light reflected from the sample rice and the light transmitted through the sample rice. The method for evaluating the taste of rice described.