## 3 Results and Discussions  
### Enzymatic Treatment and Fermentation Results  
The glucose and starch content in the raw rice flour (RRF), the un-pretreated rice flour suspension (URFS), and the hydrolyzed rice flour suspension (HRFS) before the fermentation process are reported in Table 1. The glucose value for HRFS includes the glucose initially present in the raw rice flour (0.45 \(\pm\) 0.04 mg/g\({}_{\text{flour}}\)), added glucose (66.67 \(\pm\) 0.04 mg/g\({}_{\text{flour}}\)), and glucose resulting from the enzymatic hydrolysis of starch using amylase (28.28 \(\pm\) 0.24 mg/g\({}_{\text{flour}}\)). It is possible to observe a hydrolyzed starch percentage of 82.68 \(\pm\) 0.07% and glucose release of 3.67 \(\pm\) 0.01%, evaluated with respect to the total starch content. \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{l c c c c} \hline \hline  & **RRF** & **URFS** & **HRFS** & 1**Ahydolysis**1  \\  & **(mg/g\({}_{\text{flour}}\))** & **(mg/g\({}_{\text{flour}}\))** & **(mg/g\({}_{\text{flour}}\))** & **(\%)** \\ \hline _Starch_ & 770 \(\pm\) 4.20  & 770 \(\pm\) 4.20  & 133.33 \(\pm\) 18.98  & 82.68 \(\pm\) 0.07  \\ _Glucose_ & 0.45 \(\pm\) 0.04  & 67.11 \(\pm\) 0.04  & 95.40 \(\pm\) 0.16  & 3.67 \(\pm\) 0.01  \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Starch and glucose content in raw rice flour (RRF), un-pretreated rice flour suspension (URFS), and hydrolyzed rice flour suspension (HRFS); \(\Delta_{\text{hydolysis}}\) of starch and glucose resulting from the enzymatic treatment as percent variation and evaluated with respect to the initial starch amount. The values marked with different lowercase letters in the same arrow are significantly different (\(p\) < 0.05). In [PERSON] et al. [29], enzymatic pretreatment of a 52% _w/v_ wheat flour aqueous suspension was carried out using amylase (0.017% _w/v_) at 59 \({}^{\circ}\)C for 30 min. In that case, a hydrolyzed starch percentage of 81.41%, similar to that obtained in this work, was achieved. The fermentation results shown in Figure 1 have already been discussed by [PERSON] et al. [11], where the effect of pH control on bacterial growth and lactic acid production during rice fermentation using LP CBA L74 was investigated. In Figure 2, the glucose consumption during the fermentation process, carried out with and without pH control, was reported. The Student's _t_-test found significant differences between the glucose consumption curves obtained during the fermentation process with and without pH control (_p_ < 0.05), except for the glucose concentration values determined at t\({}_{\text{18}}\) and t\({}_{\text{20}}\) (_p_ > 0.05). When pH control was applied, the glucose concentration was almost constant during the cell lag phase (from t\({}_{\text{0}}\) to t\({}_{\text{4}}\)), decreasing with a lower consumption rate until the end of exponential phase (from t\({}_{\text{4}}\) to t\({}_{\text{14}}\)) and becoming more pronounced toward the end of the process (from t\({}_{\text{14}}\) to t\({}_{\text{24}}\)), with an overall decrease in glucose content in the fermenting medium of 28.56% \(\pm\) 1.88%. The simultaneous decrease in lactic acid concentration during the last hours of the process could be associated with the high concentration of sodium hydroxide added to rice suspension for controlling pH. The high ionic strength of the suspension could affect the lactate solubility and lead to its precipitation, resulting in a lower lactic acid amount observed in the fermenting medium from t\({}_{\text{20}}\) to t\({}_{\text{24}}\). Figure 1: Bacterial growth (**a**) and lactic acid production (**b**) curves during rice flour fermentation carried out with and without pH control. Data were taken from [PERSON] et al. [11]. Figure 2: Glucose concentration during the fermentation process. (Student’s _t_-test provided \(p\) < 0.05 for all points, except for the glucose values at 18 and 20 h, marked with asterisks, *).