Screening of Rice Germplasm of Chhattisgarh for Grain Iron and Zinc Content Using Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence Spectrophotometer

The deficiency of micronutrients such as Fe and Zn in staple food crops is one of the serious problems of malnutrition in developing countries. In order to mitigate global malnutrition problems, new technologies and approaches are needed. Biofortification is a cost-effective approach for improving the Fe and Zn content and their bioavailability in rice grain. Screening of rice germplasm for high Fe and Zn content is the initial step of biofortification. In this regards, the present study was carried out on brown rice of 47 germplasm accessions of Chhattisgarh with objectives to estimate Fe and Zn content through energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrophotometer (ED-XRF), and to estimate the correlation between them. Sufficient variations were observed for both Fe and Zn content. Iron content ranged from 6.35 g/g to 17.90 μg/g, whereas zinc content from 13.50 μg/g to 30.21 μg/g in brown rice. The accessions, Peeleeluchai(135131) and Rajniti (A) had the highest grain iron and zinc content, respectively. Iron and zinc content were positively correlated, indicated the chance of simultaneous selection for both the micronutrients. Micronutrient-rich accessions identified in the present study opens up the possibilities for biofortification of popular rice cultivars of Chhattisgarh as well as India using conventional, acceptable, non transgenic methods.