Gelatinization temperature (GT) is commonly measured to assess rice cooking and processing potential. A faster method using a small quantity of sample has been desired for some time as traditional methods of estimating rice GT using the amylograph and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) are time-consuming and, in the case of the amylograph, require large quantities of samples — not well suited to rice breeding requirements. 

The RVA is a cooking, stirring viscometer with ramped temperature and variable shear capability. It is commonly used in laboratories to measure the pasting properties of rice and provides the advantages of speed, ease of use, and small sample size requirements. In parallel testing with the traditional methods, the new RVA method also provided more precise results.