A Novel Evaluation Method for Rice Drying Based on Water Migration and Molecular Motion Law Analysis

A novel method to evaluate rice drying method was investigated based on water migration and molecular motion law analysis. Three typical drying methods were selected, including continuous constant temperature drying at 50 °C (CCTD), constant temperature drying at 50 °C combined with tempering at 50 °C (CTD-T), and constant temperature drying at 50 °C combined with tempering at 65 °C (CTD-HT). Before sample analysis, single-husked rice was cut into four parts equally with its central axis. During rice drying, the smallest cytoplasmic viscosity (1.28 × 10−10 poise) was observed in CTD-HT samples, compared with CCTD (1.45 × 10−10 poise) and CTD-T (1.36 × 10−10 poise) samples, which resulted in the highest drying efficiency of CTD-HT. After rice drying, the smallest moisture gradients (only 1.25