1. Introduction.1.1 A Rich Heritage – Traditional Rice Varieties of Sri Lanka. Rice belongs to the large family of grasses, Graminae, and to the genus Oryza. The genus Oryza has twenty wild species and two cultivated species – Oryza sativa and Oryza glaberrima. O. glaberrima is mainly cultivated in the West African region, while O. Sativa is found in Asia where it is a popular strain for cultivation. Globally, O. sativa is cultivated in more than 112 countries (Chang, 2000). Rice cultivation was initiated in the Asian region, especially China, and later became popular in neighboring countries like India and then Sri Lanka (Chang, 2000). Rice has been an important food source since 2500 BC and is a staple food for approximately half of the world's population (Chang, 2000). Rice varieties possess different nutritional qualities, which are determined by factors such as genetics, environment, fertilizers, milling, storage conditions, thickness of anatomical layers, grain size and shape and their resistance to breakage and abrasion (Houston, 1972; Luh et al. 1991). The terms paddy grain or raw rice refer to freshly harvested rice. Raw rice consists of a hull and the caryopsis (Figure 1). Beneath the shell are the bran, germ and endosperm (Juliano and Bechtel, 1985). Rice is broadly classified into two varieties: brown rice and white rice. Brown rice is produced by removing the husk. This technique preserves the nutritional qualities of the rice. Removal of the bran and most of the germ layer during subsequent milling results in excessive loss of nutrients, as in white rice production (Fernando, 2011). Rice is processed by further grinding it in several grinding grades to obtain different rice paper media. The traditional varieties of rice used for this study are - Madatawaalu- Suwandel - Kuruluthuda- Sudu heenati- Pachchaperumal Commercial varieties of rice were also tested in this study, they are - Sudu kekulu- Rathu kekulu1.2 Bacterial strains .1.2.1 Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are a group of bacteria characterized by the production of lactic acid during the carbohydrate fermentation process. They are further characterized as Gram-positive anaerobic bacteria, also catalase negative and non-motile. In terms of morphology, they are either rod-shaped (bacilli) or spherical (cocci). Additionally, they ferment all carbohydrates and hydrolyze arginine. This group consists of six genera of bacteria – Enterococcus, Lactococcus, Streptococcus, bile tolerance test and pH tolerance..