The Nutritional Characterization of Rice Varieties Consumed in Portugal

Poster Reference Number: PO2580Background and objectives: Portugal has the largest consumption of rice 15.8 kg/capita/year, in Europe. The present work aims to evaluate: rice nutritional profile, namely proximate, amino acid and mineral composition; arsenic content, as the most abundant contaminant and, compositional differences between varieties, year and place of harvest. Methods: Samples were collected from the most representative national rice producers. Analysis was carried out by following analytical methods: proximate by AOAC methods; amino acids by UPLC-DAD; starch, and amylase by enzymatic methods; mineral analysis by ICP-OES including copper, manganese, iron, zinc, magnesium, calcium, sodium, phosphorus and potassium and arsenic content by ICP-MS. Results: Analyzed rice showed higher amylopectin (54.7 ± 7.3 g/100g) content than amylose (33.5± 3.8 g/100g) and total protein content of 7.1 ± 0.3 g/100g a low content of fiber and fat (