Utilization of germinated brown rice (GBR) in sugar-snap cookies and effect of heat-moisture treatment
of the GBR were investigated. Brown rice was germinated at 30 C for 48 h and then a heat-moisture
treatment was conducted for the moistened GBR (17 g/100 g moisture content) at 100 C for 4 h.
Sugar-snap cookies were prepared with white rice, brown rice, GBR and the treated GBR flours, as
substitutes for wheat flour (30e100 g/100 g). All cookies containing rice flours, regardless of germination
and heat-moisture treatment, required significantly less force to compress than did the wheat flour
cookie, and this softening effect was increased as the level of rice flour substitution increased. The
cookies made with the GBR flour displayed inferior physical characteristics compared to those with
wheat flour, but the cookies containing the treated GBR flour showed improved physical properties with
lower moisture content and higher spread factor than those containing untreated GBR flour. The cookies
containing the treated GBR flours showed relatively a low degree of firming during the ambient storage.
The overall results showed that the cookies with acceptable quality and improved nutrition could be
prepared by partial or complete replacement of wheat flour with the heat-moisture treated GBR flour.