Bioscience Methods 2026, Vol.17, No.1, 23-31 http://bioscipublisher.com/index.php/bm 25 the middle. Generally, the moisture content is controlled within the range of 22% to 26% (Zhou et al., 2025), which is consistent with research showing that the highest head rice rates and quality traits are achieved when harvest moisture is around 22%~24% rather than much higher or lower values . This way, the situation of broken grains will be reduced, and the whole polished rice rate will be more stable. In the end, whether the moisture is properly controlled during harvesting directly affects the subsequent milling effect (Li et al., 2022), with harvest moisture content identified as a key factor affecting head rice yield and milling breakage in mechanical threshing studies Figure 1 Map of sites where rice grain moisture content was sampled each year (total of 247 sites); the inset shows the study area in relation to Australia (Adopted from Brinkhof et al., 2025) 3.2 Changes in the whole-germ rice milling rate at different harvest times In actual production, the whole polished rice rate does not always increase steadily. The results vary significantly depending on the harvest time. Generally, the milling effect is the best when the rice is about to mature. If the harvest is done too early, there will still be many unripe grains in the fields, and the whole polished rice rate will naturally not be able to increase. However, if it is delayed, the moisture content of the grains will drop too low, making them hard and dry, and the rate of broken grains will significantly increase (Zhou et al., 2025). If the harvest is not done at an ideal time, both the beginning and the end will be unsatisfactory, and only the middle period will show a more suitable time. During this period, it is easier to obtain a higher whole polished rice rate. If it is done too early or too late, the quality of the harvested grains will be affected (Figure 2) (Zhang et al., 2025). Figure 2 Maturity of rice grains at harvesting time: (A) for the whole panicle, (B) for mature grain, and (C) for immature grain (green grain) (Adopted from Zhang et al., 2025)
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