BAR TODAY || Official Quarterly Publication of the Bureau of Agricultural Research

Canned rice for hungry soldiers
by Likha C. Cuevas

October-December 2003
Volume 5 No. 4

Bringing bigas and kaserola to combat and cooking it in the middle of a jungle in Mindanao is quite impractical and downright dangerous. Imagine a scenario wherein the troops are busy attending to their sinaing but somewhere hiding, a sniper is aiming at their platoon leader…

This prompts the need for ready-to-eat meals that can be lugged around and something that can be consumed even if the hungry soldiers are hiding behind bushes or in ditches. As of today, the carbohydrate sources of Philippine troops in field combat are primarily baked products, which are not quite as filling and satisfying like cooked rice. In addition, traditional Asian staples like rice contain complex carbohydrates that soldiers need because they expend a lot of energy.

Dr. Maria Patricia V. Azanza of the Department of Food Science and Nutrition, College of Home Economics, University of the Philippines Diliman addressed this need for ready-to-eat rice by preparing prototypes of thermally processed rice and rice meals in cans.

"In situations where cooking is not an option, the provision of raw milled rice grains as part of the military food rations seem questionable," Azanza reported.

The research project by Azanza was developed through thermally processed rice-based products for the Philippine Military. It also helped establish the profile of rice-based canned products in terms of viand preferences, serving size, and appropriateness for inclusion in the military food ration.

Before working on the canned rice prototypes, the researcher assumed that: (a) a typical soldier would require approximately 400 g cooked rice per meal and (b) an acceptable viand would be meat-based with a 1:4 (wt/wt) viand to rice ratio. The canned prototypes were canned rice (CR) and canned rice meal with pork sausage (CRM).

For the project, Azanza used milled Philippine Seed Board Rice (PSBRc) 66 variety from the Philippine Rice Research Institute (PhilRice) in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija. PSBRc66 has high amylose (>25%) content. Amylose content is important because, according to the Cooperative Research Center for Sustainable Rice Production (Rice CRC), "firmness and stickiness are two properties of cooked rice that influence consumer preference." Some types of rice are between 25% and 30% and high amylose levels tend to make the cooked rice firm and dry. PSBRc66 also has high intermediate starch gelatinization temperature ( 70°C) and medium gel consistency (41-60 mm).

Azanza used the CDO brand of Philippine nitrite-cured, smoked pork sausage for CRM. The process of canning the rice and rice meal includes: washing rice grains, hydration of washed grains to reach a moisture level of 35%, pre-gelatinization of the hydrated rice by steaming up to 45-60% moisture level, packaging in 307 x 409 mm cans using a standard fill-in weight of 400 g rice or rice with sausage, addition of acetic acid water (0.01%) and Tween 80-cottonseed oil emulsion mixture as suspending medium, and thermal processing at 115.6°C for 75 minutes.

After processing, the researcher assessed the physico-chemical characteristics of the CR and CRM prototypes by using these parameters: volume increase, weight increase, clumpiness, breakage, modified Ranghino test for doneness, and pH. The results indicated that the prototypes have the same characteristics as that of the typical cooked table rice appearance and level of doneness as that of the ordinary boiled rice, with the grains not too sticky nor matted. The prototypes were also found to be low acid food (4.93pH for CR and 5.50 pH for CRM). The gelatinized rice showed an almost 200% increase in volume and weight. This is an acceptable level of gelatinization with minimum presence of chalky centers in the cooked rice kernels.

To test the acceptability of the CR and CRM prototypes, Azanza went to the Bonifacio Naval Station at Fort Bonifacio in Makati. One hundred personnel (who are normally assigned and engaged in military field operations) at the Base were randomly selected to evaluate the canned foods. The respondents were asked to answer questions about demographics, appropriateness of the rice products for inclusion in the military food ration, viand preference, adequacy of serving size, and other comments. Results showed that the prototype CR and CRM were appropriate to be included in military food ration and more than 90% agreed that the canned rice products were suitable for them considering their work in the field. The respondents (50%) preferred meat-based and poultry-based viands like beef jerky (tapa), nitrite-cured meat (tocino), eggs, and adobo. Majority of the respondents said that 400g serving size was enough but size and net weight could be reduced so that these could easily be carried around.

To make these products more convenient for soldiers, the products could use the easy-open, pull-top cans so the soldiers need not bring can openers with them all the time. Azanza recommended inclusion of the viands suggested by the respondents in further studies and the need for performance testing in actual military operations in areas of assignment.

These canned rice products are a welcome innovation for the many hungry soldiers out there who would welcome a hearty rice meal in a flash.

References:
Azanza, M.P.V. Canned Rice Products as Philippine Military Food Ration. International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition. Vol. 54, No.3, (May 2003) 235-240.
Amylose and Amylopectin. Rice Science. Cooperative Research Center for Sustainable Rice Production (Rice CRC). Http://www.ricecrc.org/reader/tg_Amylose_and_Amylopectin.htm