Physicochemical properties of rice flour as affected by alkaline soaking and washing treatments

Effects of alkaline [NaOH, saturated Ca(OH)₂ and/or limewater] soaking and subsequent washing (with water vs. without washing) treatments on physicochemical properties of rice flour were investigated. Alkaline soaking treatment generally caused a loss of granule angularity but some birefringence was observed for unwashed alkali-soaked flour granules. After soaking, protein content of the flours significantly (P < 0.05) decreased but swelling power significantly (P < 0.05) increased compared to the control (soaked in water). The washed flours had lower protein content than unwashed flours (3.77–6.87% vs. 5.26–7.87%). The NaOH-soaking treatment yielded higher swelling power and solubility, respectively, for unwashed and washed flours. Alkaline soaking increased breakdown but decreased pasting temperature, trough viscosity, final viscosity and setback of the paste compared to the control. Compared to the control, hardness of soaked flour paste was lower due to lower final viscosity and setback. Overall, physicochemical properties of rice flour could be modified by alkali-soaking and washing treatments.     

Order selection and scheduling with leadtime flexibility

In this paper, we study integrated order selection and scheduling decisions, where the manufacturer has the flexibility to choose leadtimes. Our main goal is to provide a mechanism for coordinating order selection, leadtime and scheduling decisions and to determine under what conditions leadtime flexibility is most useful for increasing the manufacturer's profits. Through numerical analyses, we compare and contrast the benefits of leadtime flexibility and the flexibility to partially fulfill orders in different demand environments defined by the congestion level (or demand load), seasonality of the demand and order size. We consider both the cases where the manufacturer has and does not have the flexibility to produce orders early before they are committed.