High moisture paddy preservation technique

S.Parthasarathy, UG Agrl student, Annamalai university.

spsarathyagri@gmail.com

Preservation is the main aspect in food industries to increase to increase the shelf life of the material. If the paddy contains high moisture due to rain drenching or cloudy humid weather interfering with harvest or threshing of paddy which occurs frequently in coastal tracts, increases the post harvest loss. Due to continuous spell of rainy weather over cast sky paddy with moisture content of   20-25 percent undergoes spoilage changes leading to 24 percent dry matter loss and another 46 percent processing loss besides quality loss.

          This problem is not unique in India alone but is prevalent in other nations also. In the inadequate mechanical drying techniques and facilities one has to think a preservation technique that prevents spoilage changes in moist paddy for shorter period.

During rainy season usually harvested paddy seeds contain 18-20 % moisture. If it coincides up with rain either during harvest or threshing the moisture content of paddy increases to 25-28%. Such paddy when stored without drying due to rain, the paddy get spoiled by germination, mold growth and heat development and associated dry matter loss and discoloration.

Application of common salt (Nacl) at the rate of 5 kg for 100kg moist paddy along with 10kg adsorbent like husk powder or huller bran, mixing it thoroughly and leaving it in heaps or bagged in gunny bags protects the grains from sprouting, mould growth and heat development. The salt applied draws moisture from grains and the withdrawn moisture from grains and the withdrawn moisture is absorbed by husk powder / huller bran, thus avoiding wetting of floor.

When paddy with a moisture content of 28% is mixed with salt – husk powder the moisture comes down to 18% within 24hours. The salt, husk powder, paddy mixture can be kept as such without spoilage for 10days. Whenever clear weather sets in paddy can be separated manually by hand sieves or through paddy separator – aspirator box available in huller rice mills and dried for a while and taken up storage for marketing. The sieved huller bran can be used as cattle feed.