Search

The cadmium (Cd) and lead (Pb) content in both white and wholemeal flour milled from 110 leading rice cultivars was assessed. The white flour Cd content ranged from <0.0025 to 0.2530 mg/kg (geometric mean (GM) = 0.0150 mg/kg), while its Pb content ranged from <0.0250 to 0.3830 mg/kg (GM = 0.0210 mg/kg). The indica types took up higher amounts of Cd and Pb than did the japonica types. Although the heavy metal content of wholemeal flour tended to higher than that of white flour, nevertheless 84.5% (Cd) and 95.4% (Pb) of the entries were compliant with the national maximum allowable concentration of 0.2000 mg/kg of each contaminant. An analysis of the Cd content in the white flour of three indica type cultivars grown in two consecutive years at two locations indicated that Cd content may be significantly affected by the conditions prevailing in the growing season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] NIRS models for protein and amylose content in rice flours were evaluated. [•] Multiple derivation, preprocessing and regression methods were employed. [•] The best models to measure protein and amylose content in rice flours were identified. [•] MPLS was shown to be the most robust regression method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]