PAPER TITLE :EVALUATION OF HEAVY METAL COMPOSITION IN ELEVEN RICE SAMPLED IN SOUTHWESTERN NIGERIA

FUTA Journal of Life Sciences | VOLUME 1 NUMBER 1 2021

Paper Details

  • Author(s) : *Oguntola, E. A., 1Odeyemi, O. O., 1Oladipo, O. E
  • Abstract:

Rice is a common food for local and urban dwellers in Nigeria and other parts of Africa. It supplies energy and other nutrients to man and animals that feed on it either directly or indirectly. In addition to the nutritional component of rice, heavy metals are also present. Heavy metals are found in rice if they are present in the soil and water where the rice is grown. Eleven rice cultivars were sampled in eleven locations in the Southwestern States in Nigeria. The rice samples were sorted, sterilized and analyzed for heavy metals compositions. Lead, zinc, Manganese, copper, Nickel and Cadmium were checked in the sampled rice. The result of the analysis showed the presence of Zn, Mn, Cu, Ni and Cd in most of the sampled rice but Pb was absent in all the rice samples. The highest amount of Zn (2.55 mg/kg) was recorded in FARO 58b followed by NERICA 7 rice (0.94 mg/kg) and the FARO 52a and FARO 52b (0.81mg/kg) but the least was recorded in FARO 44c rice (02.4mg/kg). Manganese was recorded to be high in Ifo rice (1.62mg/kg) followed by FARO 52a rice(0.59mg/kg) and the least value was FARO 44c rice. NERICA 7 was recorded to have the highest copper value (0.21mg/kg) followed by FARO 58b rice (0.20mg/kg) and FARO 58a has the least detected value (0.02mg/kg). No amount of Nickel was detected in all the sampled rice except in FARO 58a rice and FARO 62(Ofada 1b) rice that contained a very minute value of 0.03 and 0.08ppm respectively. A very minute amount of Cadmium was detected in FARO 52b, FARO44b, FARO 62(Ofada 1b) and FARO 63(Ofada 2) (0.01 in each of the sampled) but no detection in FARO 58a, FARO 58b, NERICA 7, FARO 44a, FARO 52a, FARO 44c and FARO 62 (Ofada 1a) rice. The result of this research showed that rice cultivated and consumed in Southwestern Nigeria is good for consumption since the amount of the detected heavy metals was not beyond the WHO permissible limit. None of the sampled rice contains lead (Pb) value, which is a plus to the quality of the sampled rice. Keywords: Heavy metals, cultivars, analyzed, consumed, rice

FUTA Journal of Life Sciences