Abstract

Rice syrup was produced from ten varieties of locally available rice in Nigeria. Flours of malted and unmalted rice from different varieties were treated with a combination of starch hydrolyzing enzymes (Amyloglucosidase, Bacterial α-amylase and Fungal α-amylase); and the starch hydrolysates were either filtered and/or centrifuged at the end of hydrolysis. The resulting rice syrup was evaluated for sugar compositions (maltose, glucose, maltotriose, sucrose, raffinose and stachyose) using HPLC. The results showed that syrups from malted rice had significantly higher (p<0.05) maltose and maltotriose concentration than syrups from unmalted rice. The resultant syrup is a ‘High Maltose Syrup’ since maltose was found to be the predominant sugar in the rice syrup with concentration of above 50% especially for malted samples. Rice syrup can be widely applied as a potential raw material in beverage and confectionery industries as well as a good adjunct for brewing since the sugar profile of the rice syrup was similar to that of barley wort.

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