Study of quality characteristics, microbial contamination, heavy metals and toxins in different types of internal and imported rice

Rice is one of the major food commodities for half of the world's population. In Iran, rice is a strategic product that is the main strength of the people after bread, and it is expected this product supplies with appropriate quality and placed in the household basket. In this study, qualitative characteristics, amount of impurities, the concentration of heavy metals (cadmium, arsenic, and lead), microbial growth (mold and yeast), aflatoxin concentration, and pesticides in rice crop in different regions of Mazandaran (three species Tarom, Shiroodi, and Neda), Gilan (three species of Tarom, Ali Kazemi and Hashemi), three samples of organic rice (first crop, second crop and brown), and rice imported from Pakistan (three brands) and Indian rice (two brands) Was examined. The longitudinal range of increase was found to be 6.68-7.62, 7.60-7.62, 6.68-7.62, 6.50-7.00 and 5.80-6.20 mm for Pakistan, Indian, Mazandaran, Gilan and organic cultivars. Indian cultivars A, B, and Gilan (Hashemi) had the lowest, and Pakistani cultivar A had the highest impurities. Most of the perfumes belonged to Gilan (Talesh) and Mazandaran (Tarom). The highest starch gelatinisation and lowest amount of heavy metals were observed in Iranian cultivar samples. According to general estimates, the highest amount of heavy metals was measured in Pakistani rice, followed by Indian and then Iranian rice. The concentration of Aflatoxin in all samples, except for Pakistan samples, was lower than the detection limit. According to the results, the sample of organic rice with the least consumption of pesticides, the minimum amount of heavy metal, microbial and mycotoxin contamination is recommended to ensure public health.