Objective In order to find an effective way to improve the eating quality of indica rice, the physicochemical properties and eating quality of 8 main cultivated indica rice varieties in Guangdong Province were compared and analyzed.

Method Eight representative indica rice varieties were used as raw materials to systematically analyze the differences in appearance, basic nutrients, eating quality, cooking characteristics, gelatinization characteristics, texture characteristics and thermal characteristics.

Result The total starch content of the eight indica rice varieties ranged from 63.83% to 82.31%, the amylose content from 11.77% to 20.87%, the protein content from 6.33% to 9.14%, and the dietary fiber content was all below 1%. Except for '19 Xiang', the fat content of all varieties was below 2%. Among them, 'W115 Xiangsimiao' had relatively high amylose and protein contents. It had the longest optimal cooking time (28 min), a high dry matter content in the rice soup (14.33 mg/g), a high retrogradation value, and low stickiness of the cooked rice, presenting a relatively hard texture (< 75 points). Varieties with relatively low amylose and protein contents, such as 'Nanjing Xiangzhan' and '19 Xiang', had shorter optimal cooking times (20-24 min), a low dry matter content in the rice soup (approximately 11.00 mg/g), a low retrogradation value, and the cooked rice was softer and stickier, showing good palatability (> 80 points). Through the analysis of the correlation among the nutritive composition, eating quality and cooking characteristics of 8 kinds of indica rice, it was found that, the contents of starch, protein and dietary fiber had different effects on cooking properties, pasting properties and texture properties. The eight rice varieties could be classified into two categories according to the ratio of length to width, three categories according to the sensory evaluation scores, two categories according to the retrogradation value, and two categories according to the hardness and chewiness of the cooked rice.

Conclusion All eight indica rice varieties had good palatability, but there were significant differences in nutritional components among the varieties, as well as differences in the texture of the cooked rice and cooking characteristics.