Assessment of heavy metals and aflatoxin levels in export quality Indica rice cultivars with different milling fractions

摘要

The?present?study?was?designed?to?characterize?the?Pakistani?rice?varieties?(Basmati?and?coarse),?alongwith?their?milling?fractions?intended?for?export?in?Europe?and?other?regions for heavy metals and aflatoxins content.?The?content?of?heavy?metals, that is,?arsenic,?cadmium,?lead?and?mercury?varied?significantlyamong?the?rice?varieties. The?highest?content?of?cadmium?(0.63?mg?kg-1)?and?lead?(0.27?mg?kg-1)?was?foundin?the rice?variety?IRRI-6,?whereas?the?highest?mercury?level?was?found?in?KS-282?(0.075?mg kg-1).?Thecontent?of?lead?in?IRRI-B,?IRRI-W?and?brown?rice?of?Basmati?2000?was higher than that allowed by European Union (EU) legislation, whereas the contents in?milling fractions?SB-B,?SB-W?KS-B,?KS-W?and?B2-B?were?within?the?EU?prescribed?limits.?The highest?arsenic?content?was?found?in?the?rice?variety?IRRI-6while?Basmati?2000?had?the lowest?contents.?The?content?of?aflatoxins, that is,?B1,?B2,?G1?and?G2?variedsignificantly?among?rice?varieties?and?between?rice?milling?fractions,?but?the?total?aflatoxin?content?in?allvarieties?was?within?the?prescribed?limits.