Abstract: In order to study the changes of starch structure and volatile substances during the storage of japonica rice,three japonica rice varieties in the main japonica rice producing areas in China were aged under simulated high temperature and high humidity storage conditions.The crystalline structure of starch was investigated by Fourier infrared spectrum.In the wave number region of 1 300~800 cm^-1,the FTIR spectra of rice starch were deconvoluted Voigt-type equations for all found peaks.The areas of deconvoluted peaks at approximate 1 047,1 022,and 980 cm^-1 were obtained and the area ratios (R,R₁ and R₂) of (980+1047)/1 022,1 047/1 022,and 1 022/980 cm^-1 were analyzed for the effect of accelerated aging on the crystalline structure and the order degree of rice starch.Solid phase microextraction plus GC-MS techniques was utilized for analyzing the changes of the components and content of the three japonica rice volatile substance.The results suggested that the characteristic peak area ratios R and R₁ of starch samples of three kinds of rice decreased,while R₂ increased with the increasing storage time,which indicated that the structural characteristics of its crystalline zone were weakened and the structural characteristics of the non-crystalline zone were enhanced compared to thoes before storage.The degree of crystallinity of starch granules in the short range was reduced.The order degree and anti-digestive ability of the rice starch increased.In addition,comparing the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectra of three kinds of rice starch during storage,the primary structure changed little and some functional groups were introduced and disappeared.Among the volatile compounds of japonica rice,the contents of hydrocarbons and alcohols increased first and then decreased;the contents of esters and ketones in three kinds of rice varied;the content of aldehydes decreased,but gradually increased in late storage.The microstructure and volatile compounds of japonica rice starch could reflect the degree of japonica quality change at different storage periods to a certain extent and provided theoretical data for the study of rice storage quality.