ABSTRACT
Rice is one of the most consumed cereals in the world. The high demand for rice have spiked the interest of most countries (Nigeria inclusive) in development of domestic rice varieties. The aim of this study was to assess the nutritional composition and safety profile of some local and imported rice brands in selected states of Nigeria. The locally produced rice used for the study are namely: Faro 52, Faro 44, Ekpoma rice and OC rice while the imported rice brands are Caprice, Sushi rice, Jasmine rice and Basmati rice.
The samples collected were grounded to fine particles for Moisture content, ash content, crude fibre, protein content, fat content, carbohydrate content, amylose content, metal analysis and microbial load. Moisture content, ash content, crude fibre, protein content, fat content, carbohydrate content, metals compositions, vitamins, and microbial load were analyzed using standard analytical procedures. Protein content of OC rice had the highest amount (23.21±0.24%) among the rice samples while the Basmati rice had the least (22.09±0.11%). Jasmine rice had the highest amount (63.41±0.92%) of carbohydrate while Faro 44 had the least amount (55.87±1.14%). Sushi rice had the highest amount of amylose content while Faro 44 had the least among them.
Caprice had the least amount of zinc and Basmati rice had the highest. Meanwhile there were no detectable amount of cadmium and lead among the rice samples. The rice samples selected for vitamin analysis showed that Caprice had the highest amount while Basmati rice had the least amount. The fungal load showed that Sushi rice had the highest among the rice samples while the bacterial load was highest in Basmati rice. The classification and identification of bacteria shows Bacillus cereus, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumonae, Pseudomonas sp, Bacillus sp were present; Saccharomyces, Cryptococcus, Pestalotia, Phoma, Curvularia Penicillum sp were prevalent in isolated fungi identification. In conclusion, locally produced Nigerian rice are more nutritious with reduced amount of microbial load.
