3.4. Rice whiteness
The color of rice is one of the main factors involved in its
acceptance by rice consumers due to the predominant consumer
preference for extremely white rice. The whiteness of the rice that
was stored in the silos that were equipped or not equipped with
exhausters as a function of the storage period is presented in Fig. 3.
The higher L* values indicate whiter grains. Regression analysis of the whiteness value and the storage period resulted in a cubic
polynomial equation with an R2 of 1.000 for the grains that were
stored in both the silos equipped and not equipped with the exhausters.
Therewas a reduction in the whiteness of grains stored in
both the silos that were equipped with exhausters and not equipped
with exhausters during the first 3 months of storage (Fig. 3);
however, the decreasewas greater for the grains that were stored in
the silos that were not equipped with the exhausters, accounting
for a 3.51% reduction compared to a 1.87% reduction in the grains
that were stored in the silos equipped with the exhausters
compared with their respective initial samples. The whiteness of
the rice grains that were stored in silos equipped with the exhausters
remained unchanged after 3 months of storage and up to 9
months, whereas the whiteness of the rice grains that were stored
in silos without the exhausters had decreased by 1.40% after 6
months compared with that after 3 months of storage, although it
was not significantly different at the ninth month of storage.