Received: 16th March 2020; Accepted: 22nd May 2020

Abstract

Iron and zinc are the most essential micronutrients required for growth and development of all organisms including human beings. The deficiency disorders of Fe and Zn constitute a major health concern around the globe. This is majorly affecting rural populations residing in developing countries with minimum purchasing power and access to a diverse diet. Biofortification; the enrichment of staple food crops with bioavailable micronutrients or vitamins in the edible grains, provides a potential sustainable solution towards such issues. Utilization of rice as a platform for the delivery of Fe and Zn through bio fortification could greatly impact the livelihood of people dependent on rice-based agro-food systems globally. In this study, 100 rice genotypes from different mapping populations were analyzed for grain iron and zinc through the non-destructive method, energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectrophotometry for 3 seasons. Considerable variation was observed in the micronutrient density among the germplasm assessed. Iron concentration varied from 1.6 to 15.2 ppm whereas zinc concentration ranged from 6.2 to 33.2 ppm in brown rice samples and 10 genotypes N22, 148S, 61-1B, 70S, 196M, 24K, 105B, 88B, 132Z and 185M with high grain iron and zinc concentration were identified, which have the potential to be used in rice improvement.