The effects of pulsed microwave on physicochemical,rheological properties and sensory quality of rice were studied using ordinary continuous microwave as control.The results showed that the temperature,broken rice rate,percent cracked rice and blue value of microwavetreated rice were higher than that of untreated rice,except for the moisture content.The percent cracked rice after pulsed microwave treament (10%) was significantly lower than that of ordinary continuous microwave (24%),close to untreated rice (8.5%),indicating that the effect of pulsed microwave was better than that of ordinary continuous microwave.In steady shear mode,all rice pastes were typical nonNewtonian fluid with pseudoplastic behavior.Compared with untreated rice paste,the viscosity of rice paste treated with microwave decreased and the mobility increased,close to a Newtonian fluid.In dynamic oscillation mode,the pasting temperature of both untreated and microwavetreated rice were at ~68℃.The storage modulus (G′) and loss modulus (G″) of microwavetreated rice paste was higher than that of the untreated rice paste,indicating that the three dimensional gel network in the rice paste could be enhanced by microwave.There was no significant changes in the sensory qualities of rice treated by pulsed microwave.The shape score of cooked rice treated by pulsed microwave was significantly higher than that of ordinary continuous microwave.The pulsed microwave will have a potential application in the processing and storage of food.