Hydrolysis of acylglycerols and phospholipids of milled rice surface lipids during storage

The relative contribution of acylglycerols and phospholipids to the lipid hydrolysis in milled rice was investigated during storage at 37°C and 70% RH for 50 d. The MAG, DAG, and lysophospholipid contents of surface lipid were determined by reversed-phase HPLC. The MAG and DAG content of milled rice increased during storage from 0.06 to 0.18% (w/w milled rice), with the MAG content increasing more than that of the DAG. Lysophosphatidylcholine increased throughout the study from 0.013 to 0.034% (w/w), whereas lysophosphatidylinositol and lysophosphatidylethanolamine contents initially increased from 0.002 to 0.003% and from 0.005 to 0.009% (w/w), respectively, and then stabilized until day 50. The relative percentage of TAG and phospholipids hydrolyzed in milled rice increased rapidly during the first 3 d of storage from 12.3 to 37.6% and 25.0 to 62.5% (w/w), respectively, and steadily increased to 53.1 and 73.8% (w/w) on day 50. A higher percentage (62.5%) of phospholipids was hydrolyzed relative to TAG (37.6%) after 3 d and probably contributed significantly to milled rice lipid hydrolysis during early storage. However, TAG concentration (0.57%, w/w) was much higher relative to phospholipids (0.08%, w/w) in surface lipids, and therefore TAG hydrolysis was the major contributor to FFA development and the quality of stored milled rice.