Abstract:Abstract: Hot Air Assisted Radio Frequency (HARF) drying with multistage tempering was applied for post-harvest treatment of rough rice. The effects of HARF drying were explored about various parameters such as electrode gap (100, 110, 120 mm), material temperature (50, 55, 60°C) and air velocity (0.5, 1.5, 2.5 m/s) along with Hot Air Drying (HAD) on rice quality. In this study, optimal HARF drying condition was recorded at electrode gap of 110 mm, temperature of 60°C and hot air velocity of 2.5 m/s. After milling, the Head Rice Yield (HRY), broken percentage, chalkiness, length to width (L/W) radio, percentage of unsound kernels, fatty acid value and degree of freshness were estimated. Results indicated that RF heating significantly enhanced HRY and degree of freshness while reducing the broken percentage up to 16.21%, 36.48% and 26.45% respectively, as compared to HAD. Yellowness, length to width ratio and fatty acid value of HAD and HARF dried samples were statistically not significant (P > 0.05), while chalkiness of HARF dried rice was slightly higher than HAD samples. The research findings are critical for application of HARF drying on industrial scale to improve the quality of rice.