PJB-2024-178
OCCURRENCE OF ARSENIC, MERCURY AND FUNGAL PATHOGENS IN RICE FROM PAKISTAN: AN ANALYSIS OF RICE TYPE, VARIETY AND LOCATION
Salman Khurshid
Abstract
Rice is a staple food for many people and is vulnerable to contamination from soil and irrigation water, which poses significant health and trade concerns, particularly in countries like Pakistan. Therefore, the occurrence of heavy metal contaminations in relation to fungal pathogens was determined considering type, variety and location of rice. All the samples were compliant with the permissible limits set by the WHO. However, only 2.5% of the total samples had mercury levels slightly higher than the EU limit. The location imparted significant (p<0.01) influence on arsenic levels in rice. About half of the paddy and few brown rice samples showed incidence of fungal pathogens, primarily Tilletia barclayana. Effects of rice type, variety and location were found to be significant (p<0.001) on the incidence and severity of fungal pathogens on rice. However, the most effective source of variation was an interaction of rice type and variety. The severity of fungal pathogens was moderately related (r= -0.58) to the arsenic contamination levels. A weak correlation (r=0.31) found between arsenic and mercury, indicating that their uptake in rice plant is independent of each other. Compared to rice grain forms, the co-products viz. broken rice and rice bran showed higher levels of mercury contamination, while indifferent in arsenic and fungal incidence. The rice variety IRRI-9 demonstrated the highest and statistically significant (p<0.05) levels of mercury contamination and the most severe infestation by fungal pathogens, requiring specific preventative measures or control strategies compared to other varieties.
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