Expanded rice, prepared from pre-gelatinized milled rice by sand roasting method, is a popular snack food of India. Five high-yielding rice varieties of Hill zone of Karnataka state, viz., IET-13901, KHP-2, KHP-5, KHP-10, and Intan were screened for puffing quality based on their physicochemical, functional, nutritional and organoleptic parameters with Rajamudi as local check. The effect of varietal differences on expansion/puffing quality parameters, in vitro digestibility of starch and

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... as well as bioaccessibility of iron, zinc, and calcium were determined. Results indicated a strong positive correlation between amylose content and expansion ratio and a negative correlation between protein and amylose content, length expansion ratio and volume expansion ratio. Expansion characteristics showed that the varieties suitable for production of puffed rice were KHP-2, IET-13901 and Intan. Nutritional analysis showed following ranges of nutrient content in expanded rice: protein, 6.22-8.17%; fat, 0.06-0.14%; and as mg/100 g calcium, 20.5-23.5; iron, 2.01-2.72; zinc, 1. thiamine, riboflavin, and niacin,.8% starch and 67.6-83.2% protein was digestible. Among all varieties, KHP-2 had lowest amount of rapidly digestible starch (61.4%). Mineral bioaccessibility ranged from 42.7 to 52.1%. Sensory analysis indicated that Intan and KHP-2 were superior and suited for production of expanded rice.