Abstract
Native pigmented rice in southern Thailand are under utilization although their colour and antioxidant properties are very attractive. To promote pigmented rice its water extracts could be used as beverage. The aim of this work was to determine properties of water extracts from 8 varieties of pigmented rice from southern Thailand. The effect of extraction heating time on properties of water extracts was also studied. De-husked pigment rice grains (8 varieties both waxy and non waxy) were mixed with water (grain:water = 1:25) and heated at 1000C for 15 min. The water extracts obtained were determined for colour parameters (L*, a* and b*), total phenol, anthocyanin and antioxidant activities (DPPH., ABTS+ and SRSA). The results showed that total polyphenol and total anthocyanin contents in water extracts from all varieties were in the range of 0.18-2.19 mg GAE/ml extracts and 0.11-0.99 mg Cy-3-G/ml extracts, respectively. However, those from waxy rice had higher content for both polyphenol and anthocyanin and hence performed higher antioxidant activities shown by DPPH., ABTS+ and SRSA radical scavenging activity (p