It has been proposed that the hydrated protein fractions interact strongly with starch, and thus, starcheprotein interactions preclude starchestarch interactions, thereby hindering amylopectin recrystallization during storage. The thermoase treatment reduced the staling rate, which indicated that partial digestion of some rice proteins increased the affinity of the proteins for starch. This resulted in prevention of hydrogen bond formation in the starchestarch interactions of the starch granules, thus decreasing the recrystallization rate during storage.