This study was intended to investigate the physical properties and chemical compositions of the three rice varieties grown in Ethiopia. Evaluation included determination of moisture, ash, crude fiber, crude fat, crude protein, carbohydrate, Fe, Zn, Ca and phytic acid contents. The data analysis was conducted using SPSS Version-22. Duncan’s multiple range test was used for the mean comparison at P<0.05. The results revealed that the rice cultivar edeget had shown a higher thousand kernel weight (TKW) (39.20 g) than other varieties while brown tef had a TKW of 0.36 g. X-jigna had shown a higher hectoliter weight (HLW) (63.70 kghL-1) than other varieties while the brown tef had 84.48 kghL-1. The ash, crude fiber and fat contents of the brown tef were higher than all the three rice varieties. Nerica-4 had better protein content (9.61%) than other rice varieties and brown tef had a protein content of 9.58%. The iron content of the three rice varieties was virtually null while the brown tef had shown a higher iron content (17.18 mg100g-1). Nerica-4 had shown a higher zinc content (3.62 mg100g-1) while the brown tef had got a higher calcium (91.90 mg100g-1) and phytic acid (5 mgg-1). The study revealed that the physical properties of the three rice varieties were significantly different regardless of the environmental influences.

Keywords: TKW, HLW, Rice, Tef and phytic acid.