A Review of Rice Authenticity/Adulteration Methods and Results

Rice importance resides in its high consumption mainly in Asia and Africa and less in the EU. Several cultivars, both GM and non-GM, have established themselves in various regions depending mainly on the climatic and soil conditions. A high number of analytical, enzymic, and genomic analyses (instrumental) in conjunction with sensory analysis were applied (not always very successfully) towards detecting deliberate or non-deliberate rice adulteration. It was shown that the application of multivariate analysis to data obtained is very beneficial because it allows the effective discrimination of different origin, and/or cultivar rice. Although sensory analysis is based on a trained panel (subjective method), if this panel has been properly trained the adulteration results are comparable to those of the instrumental analysis obtained.