Abstract:This study investigated the mechanism through which different water quantities （15%，20%，25%，30% and 35%）could affect recombinant rice quality，using screw extrusion technology.Moreover，a quality evaluation model was established using principal component analysis.The results showed that the 1 000-grain weight，hardness，and chewiness of recombinant rice first increased and then decreased in parallel with increasing water quantity，reaching the maximum value at a water quantity of 30%.The gelatinization degree first decreased and then increased，reaching the minimum value at a water quantity of 30%.The radial expansion rate，gelatinization time，and cooking loss rate of recombinant rice increased significantly（P＜0.05），while the cohesiveness decreased significantly（P＜0.05）.Three principal components were extracted from 15 quality indexes using principal component analysis，and the cumulative contribution rate was determined as 96.61%.Based on this result，a comprehensive evaluation model was established.After verification，the order of the comprehensive and sensory scores was found to be as follows：30%＞35%＞25%＞15%＞20%.The correlation coefficient was 0.937 3，indicating that this evaluation model could be used to examine the quality of edible recombinant rice.