Elemental analysis of commercially available rice samples in Malaysia by using ICP-MS and SEM-EDX
Ong Mei Gee1,4, Rohana Abdul Jalil1,4, Wan Rosli Wan Ishak2,4 *, Noor Aman Hamid 1,4, Che Badariah Abdul Aziz1, Wan Suriati Wan Nik2,4, Noor Fadzlina Hamid2,4, Vasanti Malik3,4, Walter Willet3,4, Frank Hu3,4
1School of Medical Sciences, 16150 Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia
2School of Health Sciences, 16150 Universiti Sains Malaysia, Kelantan, Malaysia
3Department of Nutrition, Harvard Chan School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115 USA
4Global Nutrition and Epidemiological Transition Initiative (GNET), Harvard Chan School of Public Health, 665 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115 USA
Abstract
Rice is the staple food in Malaysia. There are limited literature about study on the elemental levels and observation on ultrastructure of commercially available white rice and brown rice in Malaysia. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to determine the concentration of elements in three uncooked long rice grain, i.e. two brown rice and one white rice varieties that are commercially available in Malaysia using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and compare the structure and elements of uncooked and cooked rice grain using Scanning Electron Microscopy-Energy Dispersive X-Ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDX). The ICP-MS results of the three uncooked rice grains showed high concentration of copper, manganese and zinc, followed with potassium, magnesium and calcium. Besides, the element contaminant such as plumbum, antimony and cadmium in the rice grains were under Malaysian permissible limit (Malaysian Food Act, 1983) and international standard (FAO/WHO, 2002). Arsenic was below Malaysian permissible limit but higher than safe limit by international standard. Silicon was observed in brown rice after viewed by using SEM-EDX. Besides, brown rice showed higher concentration of elements than white rice
Keywords: Brown rice, Elements, ICP-MS, SEM-EDX, White rice