Journal of Agriculture and Ecology Research International 3(3): 97-106, 2015; Article no.JAERI.2015.037 ISSN: 2394-1073

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Evaluation of Potential Accessions of African ( glaberrima Steud) with Essential Mineral Elements for Breeding Purposes

H. M. Amoatey1,2, H. A. Doku3*, K. Nyalemegbe4 and D. Bansa5

1Nuclear Agriculture Centre, Biotechnology and Nuclear Agriculture Research Institute, Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, P.O.Box LG 80, Legon-Accra, Ghana. 2Department of Nuclear Agriculture and Radiation Processing, School of Nuclear and Allied Sciences, University of Ghana, P.O.Box AE 1, Atomic Energy, Kwabenya- Accra, Ghana. 3Department of Biotechnology, Seed and Food Science Division / Rice, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Crops Research Institute, P.O.Box 3785, Fumesua-Kumasi, Ghana. 4Department of Agriculture Economics and Agribusiness, Evangelical Presbyterian University College, P.O.Box HP 678, Ho, Ghana. 5Nutrition Research Centre, Radiological and Medical Sciences Research Institute, Ghana Atomic Energy Commission, P.O.Box LG 80, Legon-Accra, Ghana.

Authors’ contributions

This research was carried out by all authors. Authors HMA and HAD conceived the original idea and designed the study. Authors KN and DB conducted the research and managed the literature searches. Authors HM and HAD performed statistical analysis and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Article Information

DOI: 10.9734/JAERI/2015/15314 Editor(s): (1) Claudia Belviso, Laboratories of Environmental & Medical Geology, CNR-IMAA, Italy. (2) Inż. Krzyszt of Skowron, Department of Microbiology, Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń, Collegium Medicum of L. Rydygier in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Reviewers: (1) Anonymous, India. (2) Anonymous, India. (3) Georgina Dede Arthur, Nature Conservation , Mangosuthu University of Technology, Durban, South . (4) Muhammad Yasin, Dept. of Microbiology and Molecular Genetics, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. Complete Peer review History: http://www.sciencedomain.org/review-history.php?iid=923&id=37&aid=8232

Received 19th November 2014 nd Original Research Article Accepted 2 February 2015 Published 24th February 2015

ABSTRACT

Aim: The study was to identify superior accessions of African rice ( Steud.) for breeding to obtain nutrient-rich varieties to combat micro-nutrient malnutrition. ______

*Corresponding author: Email: [email protected];

Amoatey et al.; JAERI, 3(3): 97-106, 2015; Article no.JAERI.2015.037

Place and Duration of Study: Field experimentation was carried out at Soil and Irrigation Research Institute, University of Ghana. Laboratory analyses were done at Ghana Research Reactor 1 (GHARR-1) and the Department of Chemistry and Environmental Research Centre, both of the National Nuclear Research Institute, Ghana Atomic Energy Commission. All the research activities were conducted between the period July, 2010 and June, 2011. Methodology: Seventeen local accessions of African rice were evaluated for their reproductive and yield characteristics alongside NERICA 1, a high-yielding, protein-rich hybrid purposely bred for Africa. The dried seeds were analyzed for seven essential mineral elements: calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, manganese, potassium and zinc using atomic absorption spectrophotometry and neutron activation analysis. Results: The study did not identify any accession with high or appreciable levels of both iron and zinc which are considered vital in alleviating micro-nutrient malnutrition. However, the accession N/4 showed significantly (P < 0.05) high zinc content (30.10 mg kg-1) while Awerema significantly (P < 0.05) recorded the highest amount of iron (386.6 mg kg-1). Conclusion: The two accessions may therefore be utilized in a hybridization program for developing new lines of African rice rich in both iron and zinc.

Keywords: Atomic absorption spectrophotometry; biofortification; genetic diversity; micronutrient mal- nutrition; neutron activation analysis; Oryza glaberrima.

ABBREVIATIONS

AAS: Atomic absorption spectrophotometry; Cu: copper; DAP: days after planting DFH: days to 50% heading; DM: days to maturity; ESADDI: estimated safe and adequate daily dietary intake; FARA: Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa; Iron: Fe; GL: grain length ; GW: grain weight ; GY: grain yield; GRiSP: Global Rice Science Partnership; IRRI: International Rice Research Institute; Mg: magnesium; Mn: manganese; MR: minimum requirement; NERICA: ; NAA: Neutron activation analysis; NPK: nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus; RDA: recommended dietary allowance; SSA: Sub-Saharan Africa; SSR: simple sequence repeat ; SWAC/OECD: Sahel and Club / Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development ; Zinc: Zn.

1. INTRODUCTION mainly from Asian ( L.), which is inherently inferior to the indigenous rice Rice (Oryza sp.) is a cereal produced and of West African origin (Oryza glaberrima Steud.) consumed in 38 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa in nutrition and it is further impoverished through (SSA) [1]. It is currently a main staple in many the combined processes of milling and polishing countries, having replaced traditional foods such [8]. as millet (Pennisetum glaucum), yam (Discorea spp) and cocoyam (Xanthosoma saggittifolium). Already, micronutrient malnutrition is widespread In the past few years, consumption of rice in SSA in SSA, affecting many people, especially has grown steadily at an annual rate of 4.5% children and women. The region has been home thereby making this crop a commodity of to 14% of the world’s micronutrient-malnourished strategic importance across the continent [2]. populations particularly mineral and vitamin This trend has been enhanced by changing deficiencies of most common public health demographic patterns with concomitant changing importance namely iodine (I), Iron (Fe) and food preferences in both rural and urban settings vitamin A [9]. Adopting the wrong strategy in [3,4]. meeting the nutritional needs of the populace may lead to a situation where SSA will surpass Throughout the SSA, production of rice has not South Eastern Asia as the region with the highest kept pace with demand, creating a 40% gap [1,5] prevalence of nutrient-deficiency problems in the which is filled by rising imports from Thailand and world [10,11]. Vietnam [6]. Currently, SSA is a net importer of rice, with Nigeria, , and Cote d’Ivoire In the past, global attempts to address micro ranking among the top 10 rice importers in the nutrient under-nutrition have focused on world [7]. In Ghana, approximately US$ 500 pharmaceutical supplementation and industrial million is spent annually on the import of rice to fortification, with limited successful impact as supplement local production [5]. This is derived these programs were expensive and required to

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be carried out annually [12,13,14,15]. Kpong, in the Eastern Region of Ghana, latitude Furthermore, agronomic fortification through the 6° 09ˈ N and longitude 0° 04ˈ E, 22 m above sea application of mineral fertilizers to increase the level, 80 km NE of Accra, from July to December mineral content in crops has not gone beyond 2010. Soil order of the experimental area is the initial investigations because of the obvious Vertisol. A total of 17 accessions of African rice adverse effects of that strategy on the (Oryza glaberrima Steud) collected from five environment [16]. Hence, the new paradigm geographical locations (Old baika, Lolobi and tends to favor genetic fortification (biofortification) Akpafu of Volta region, Northern region and to enhance the nutrient status of staple crops Ashanti region) of Ghana alongside NERICA 1 through development of nutrient-dense varieties as a check, were grown in the field in a to address the negative economic and health randomized complete-block design with four consequences of vitamin and mineral replications. Nitrogen, potassium and deficiencies in humans [13,17,18,19,20]. Such phosphorus (NPK) compound fertilizer was varieties must be able to mobilize, uptake, and applied at four-leaf stage (21 days after sowing) translocate these nutrients to edible parts as basal, at a rate of 45 kg ha-1 and top-dressed [21,22,23]. Micronutrient enrichment traits exist in (60 days) with sulphate of ammonia at 45 kg ha- the rice genome and these have been 1. Weeds were controlled three times using a successfully tapped in the production of high β- combination of propanil and 2, 4-D at a rate of carotene ‘’ and high ferritin-Fe rice 7.51 L ha-1 and 2.51 L ha-1 respectively. using transgenic approaches [24] as well as protein-rich NERICA varieties using conventional Data on reproductive and ripening crossing [25,26,27]. characteristics, such as days to 50% heading (DFH) and days to maturity (DM) were collected. Apart from its well-known resistance to biotic and Seeds were harvested upon maturity when more abiotic stress factors of the environment than 80% of the grains on the panicle were fully [28,29,30,31,32], African rice (Oryza glaberrima ripened. They were threshed and air dried to a Steud) also contains higher amounts of some moisture content of 14%. Moisture content of essential micronutrients than Asian rice (Oryza accessions were determined by means of sativa L.) [33,13]. Hence the key decision by moisture digital meter. Yield data collected Africa Rice Centre [4] to incorporate O. included 100-grain weight (100 GW, g), grain glaberrima in all future breeding programs. length (GL, mm) and grain yield per hectare (GY, Several earlier workers [34,13,35,8,36] have kg) extrapolated from a plot size of 3 m x 2 m. demonstrated that there is ample genetic diversity in rice for vitamin A as well as essential The 18 lines under investigation have previously micronutrients such as zinc (Zn) and Fe. What been shown to be genetically diverse using 24 remains to be done are the collection, screening simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. They and improvement of such nutrient-rich exhibited Shannon diversity (I) index, Nei accessions to concentrate the desired nutrients heterozygosity (Nei’s He) and gene flow ( Nm) of into novel, high-yielding varieties adapted to local 1.178, 0.608 and 0.235 respectively, high growing conditions for cultivation by farmers. positive F-statistics (inbreeding coefficient) This will obviate the necessity to carry out values (Fis and Fit close to 1.0), indicating lack of genetic transformation of traditional varieties. To heterozygosity among the populations and achieve this, a thorough assessment of available grouped based on geographical area of germplasmis required. Therefore this study was collection [ 37]. aimed at assessing the content of seven essential mineral elements in the caryopses of 2.2 Laboratory Analyses 17 local accessions of African rice alongside NERICA 1 to identify superior ones for future Laboratory analyses for variability in mineral breeding purposes. element composition were conducted at the Ghana Research Reactor 1 (GHARR-1) and the 2. MATERIALS AND METHODS Department of Chemistry and Environmental Research Centre, both of the National Nuclear 2.1 Site for Field Experiment and Research Institute, Ghana Atomic Energy Materials Commission in Kwabenya (Accra) using neutron activation analyses and atomic absorption The experiment was conducted at the Soil and spectrophotometry between January and June, Irrigation Research Centre, University of Ghana, 2011.

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2.2.1 Determination of content of mineral employing the recommended working conditions elements using neutron activation (Table 1). Reference standards for the elements analysis (NAA) of interest, blanks and repeats of the samples were digested the same way as the actual Dried seed samples from each accession were samples. These served as internal positive dehulled using Kett automatic rice husker (model controls. TR 200, Kett Electric Lab) and ground into fine powder via kitchen blinder (model BLG-555). An 2.2.3 Calculation of concentrations of aliquot of 0.2 g from each sample (accession) specified mineral elements was weighed, wrapped in a clean transparent polythene bag, labelled and hot sealed. The For each of the five elements: Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn wrapped materials were further placed in a clean and Zn, concentration in the samples was capsule and hot sealed. Each sample was then calculated using the formula: irradiated at the Ghana Research Reactor One (GHARR-1) for 1 minute to detect short-lived Final Concentration [mg kg-1] = radionuclides. The samples were then quantified Conc. [ df] x Nominal volume using a computer-based, gamma-ray Sample weight (g) spectroscopy system which consists of an N-type high purity germanium (HPGe) detector model where, Conc. [df] =AAS conc. reading, and GR 2518, an HV power supply (model 13103), Nominal volume=final volume after digestion. and a spectroscopy amplifier (model 2020, Canberra Industries Incorporated). An 3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ACCUSPEC multi-channel (MCA) emulation software card and a micro-computer for data acquisition, evaluation and analysis were also 3.1 RESULTS used. The counting of each sample took 10 minutes. Quantitative analysis was done using 3.1.1 Reproductive and yield description of the gamma spectrum analysis software, Ortec accessions MAESTRO 32. Concentrations of the various samples were computed using the comparative The reproductive and yield characteristics of the method where net peak area of the sample and 18 lines including days to 50% heading (DFH), the net peak area of the standard were taken into days to maturity (DM), grain yield (GY), grain consideration. The elements tested using the length (GL) and 100 grain weight (GW) are NAA were calcium (Ca) and potassium (K). Rice shown in Table 2. The accession ‘N/4’ attained flour of known elemental composition served as heading at 46 days after planting (DAP) and the standard in this analysis. matured 80 DAP. Thus, it is early-maturing (days to maturity (DM)< 90 days) and had a deduced 2.2.2 Determination of content of mineral vegetative phase of 20 days. It also recorded the elements using atomic absorption highest grain length and 100 grain weight among spectrophotometry (AAS) the assembled accessions but lower grain yield compared to Awerema. On the other hand, An aliquot of 0.5 g from each sample (accession) ‘Adaesi’, ‘Awerema’, ‘Viwonor short’, ‘Viwonor was weighed into a Teflon beaker. Amounts of tall’ and ‘Volta’ were late-maturing (DM > 120 5ml of HNO3 (70% HNO3) and 1ml of H2O2 (30% days).The remaining 11 accessions were of H2O) were added. The Teflon beakers were medium-maturity. covered and placed in a rotor. The rotor was then placed in a microwave oven (model ETHOS 900) 3.1.2 Concentration and association of for digestion (acid digestion). Each sample was essential mineral elements in the digested in three replicates [38]. After the accessions digestion, the inside walls of the Teflon beakers were washed with distilled water and made up to The concentrations of two mineral elements, a final volume of 20 ml. The samples were then namely, CA and K as detected by NAA in the transferred from the Teflon beakers into test various accessions are shown in Table 3(a). The tubes. The digested samples were assayed for accession ‘Balemi 1’ had the highest the presence of copper (Cu), Fe, magnesium concentration of Ca whereas ‘Akotiako’ had the (Mg), manganese (Mn) and Zn on a Varian 240 least. On the other hand, NERICA 1 recorded the Fast Sequential (FS) in an acetylene-air flame

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highest concentration of K whereas ‘Viwonor two essential elements. The associations short’ had the least. between the concentrations of the seven essential mineral elements in the caryopses of The concentrations of Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn and Zn in the accessions were also determined (Table 4). the various accessions as detected by AAS are displayed in Table 3(b). ‘Awerema’ recorded the Cu showed weak or negative correlation with four highest concentrations of Fe and Mn whereas other elements (Fe, Mg, Mn and Ca) but was ‘Davi’ and ‘Badayi 1’ recorded the least for these moderately associated with Zn and K. Similarly, same elements. Mg significantly correlated with Zn but recorded weak or negative association with all other The accessions ‘Badayi 2’,Akotiako and N/4 elements. The concentration of K was also recorded the highest concentrations of Cu, Mg weakly or negatively correlated with Fe, Mg, Mn and Zn respectively. For all accessions, the and Zn but showed moderate association with concentration of Mg was above 1000 mg kg-1, Cu and Ca. The strongest association was except for ‘Badayi 1’, ‘Guamea’ and ‘Volta’ which between Mn and Fe. The results, however, recorded concentrations of 913.7, 846.0 and showed a weak and negative association 877.3 mg kg-1 respectively. No single accession between the two most important micro minerals, recorded the highest concentrations of more than Fe and Zn.

Table 1. Recommended instrumental working conditions/parameters

Element Wave Lamp Slit Width (nm) Fuel Support Instrument length current (mA) detection limit Cu 324.7 4 0.5 Acetylene Air 0.0030 Fe 248.3 5 0.2 Acetylene Air 0.0060 Mg 285.2 4 0.5 Acetylene Air 0.0003 Mn 279.5 5 0.2 Acetylene Air 0.0020 Zn 213.9 5 0.1 Acetylene Air 0.0010

Table 2. Agronomic characteristics of some accessions of African rice (Oryza glaberrima Steud.) and one NERICA variety

Accession DFH (Days) DM (Days) GY (kg ha-1) GL (mm) 100 GW (mg) Adaesi 117a 150a 1083g 8.1d 1.88h Akotiako 86d 116c 2367def 8.1d 3.05c Awerema 117a 150a 6650a 7.9d 2.25f Balemi 1 82f 114d 3300cde 8.0d 2.70e Balemi 2 83e 114d 3117cde 7.9d 2.90cd Badayi 1 83e 114d 3500cd 8.0d 2.85de Badayi 2 83e 114d 3200cde 7.9d 2.90cd Davi 83e 114d 3050cde 8.0d 2.88d Guamea 86d 116c 3617c 7.1e 3.38ab NERICA 1 78g 110e 3983bc 9.1b 3.48a N/4 46n 80g 3717bc 9.4a 3.53a Oloma 82f 114d 3617c 8.1d 3.00cd SARI 1 76h 106f 3933bc 7.9d 3.25b SARI 2 76h 106f 4917b 8.0d 3.25b Viwonor short 114c 143b 2133efg 7.9d 2.40f Viwonor tall 114c 143b 1583fg 8.0d 2.08g Viwotor 116b 150a 1667fg 7.9d 2.03gh Volta 117a 150a 1600fg 8.6c 2.38f Mean 91 122 3168.6 8.11 2.79 SD 20.0 20.1 1340.9 0.50 0.51 CV 0.0 0.0 25.6 0.8 1.0 SD= Standard deviation; CV = Coefficient of variation, variables depicts mean separation by Duncan range multiple test at P<0.05

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Table 3. Elemental composition of some accessions of African rice (Oryza glaberrima Steud) and one NERICA variety

NAA (3a) (mg kg-1) AAS (3b) (mg kg-1) Accessions Ca K Cu Fe Mg Mn Zn Adaesi 68.7±3.1de 17.1±2.3cd 3.0±0.12k 63.7±0.13i 3209.6±2.0b 13.7±0.08g 28.7±0.14c Akotiako 52.4±2.4e 13.9±1.7cd 5.1±0.04c 45.9±0.02m 3516.6±2.92a 15.7±0.14e 28.1±0.08d Awerema 68.0±2.8de 26.2±9.0bcd 2.7±0.02l 386.6±0.46a 2572.2±6.02d 71.2±0.17a 20.5±0.02l Balemi 1 149.6±9.3a 19.8±4.5cd 4.6±0.05f 69.1±0.59h 1328.0±14.80k 10.2±0.07m 26.4±0.02e Balemi 2 129.4±3.4abc 30.2±4.5bc 4.0±0.06g 129.4±0.16d 1492.0±3.27j 14.1±0.06f 30.1±0.11b Badayi 1 122.7±3.4abcd 22.8±3.8bcd 3.5±0.06i 63.9±0.10i 913.7±1.40n 9.7±0.06n 23.5±0.28h Badayi 2 87.5±2.9bcde 17.9±4.5cd 5.9±0.02a 26.9±0.05o 2353.8±1.15e 10.6±0.06l 25.1±0.05f Davi 107.7±3.7abcde 16.4±2.1cd 1.3±0.0p 14.3±0.21p 1083.0±5.55l 11.5±0.10j 20.1±0.12m Guamea 139.0±3.7ab 36.9±4.6b 4.7±0.08e 47.3±0.25l 846.0±4.40p 23.0±0.08b 20.5±0.10l NERICA 1 139.6±3.1ab 154.1±3.7a 5.7±0.08b 51.9±0.06k 1009.3±1.40m 13.6±0.12g 21.8±0.02j N/4 136.6±3.3ab 16.5±3.5cd 5.0±0.04d 36.1±0.36n 2917.4±0.23c 10.9±0.14k 31.0±0.14a Oloma 128.1±3.6abcd 17.5±3.9cd 3.8±0.06h 56.6±0.11j 1516.8±2.62i 12.2±0.05h 28.7±0.06c SARI 1 118.1±3.6acde 1.9±3.8cd 1.1±0.06q 46.6±0.07l 1786.6±3.95h 10.3±0.23m 18.6±0.14n SARI 2 75.3±2.9cde 20.3±2.5cd 4.7±0.0.02e 88.4±0.72f 1321.6±4.54k 11.7±0.02ij 20.8±0.04k Viwonor short 89.7±3.4abcde 1.6±0.2bcd 2.6±0.02m 77.9±1.02g 1089.0±0.61l 11.8±0.02i 23.4±0.11h Viwonor tall 98.0±3.2abcde 3.1±0.5bc 1.9±0.02n 240.6±0.16b 2130.4±3.56f 18.8±0.05c 22.7±0.05i Viwotor 108.6±3.5abcde 24.6±6.5bcd 3.4±0.02j 160.6±0.21c 2002.2±2.27g 16.3±0.06d 24.3±0.14g Volta 91.4±3.2abcde 9.5±2.6d 1.8±0.04o 120.7±0.95e 877.3±5.83o 15.9±0.04e 18.1±0.05o CV 29.0 30.3 1.5 0.4 0.3 0.6 0.5 RDA/ ESADDI/ MR 800.0µ 2000.0λ 1.5-3.0β 10.0 / 15.0µ 350.0 / 280.0µ 2.0-5.0β 15.0 / 12.0µ Footnote of Table 3. RDA/ ESADDI/ MR information providedby FAO / WHO, 2000 and adopted from Welch and Graham, 2004. µ = RDA = recommended dietary allowances, β = ESADDI = estimated safe and adequate daily dietary intakes, λ = MR = Minimum requirement. Hyphen (-) = range of mineral required by both sexes (Age: 25-50), Values at the left and right of slash punctuation (/) = daily amount of element required by males and females respectively (Age: 25-50). Variables denote mean separation by Duncan range multiple test at P<0.05

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Table 4. Correlations among contents of seven mineral elements in some accessions of African rice (Oryza glaberrima Steud) and one NERICA variety

Cu Fe Mg Mn Zn Ca K Cu Fe -0.30157 Mg 0.16270 0.17284 Mn -0.14361 0.84075* 0.22530 Zn 0.47749 -0.21425 0.52965* -0.25541 Ca 0.17189 -0.31848 -0.53599 -0.33372 0.11097 K 0.43358 -0.10658 -0.25043 0.01798 -0.11771 0.36740 Simple linear correlation coefficients among seven mineral elements (values contained in dry seeds of 18 accessions); df = 17; mean number of grains of each accession analysed = 1000; *: P<0.05)

3.2 DISCUSSION lower still in comparison to values previously reported for improved cultivars of rice [10]. In Assessment of the mineral element composition contrast, all the 18 accessions evaluated of the accessions elucidates the nature of recorded higher concentrations of Mg than the genetic diversity among the accessions. ‘N/4’ RDAs of 350 mg and 280 mg for both males and which emerged as the best accession with females. The highest Mg value recorded for the respect to concentration of Zn is comparable to present study is about twice the value obtained in the highest concentration of Zn (33 mg kg-1 or previous study [10]. 3.3 mg/100g) recorded by some earlier workers [39] but lower than one of the highest values ever The other three elements analysed (Cu, K and recorded (59 mg kg-1) [13,40]. Furthermore, the Mn) are also indispensable in the diets of earliness of N/4 extends the usefulness of the humans, especially Mn which is considered a accession in the area of adaptation for global deficient micronutrient though relatively less climate change. Thus, short maturation period of prevalent compared with Fe and Zn deficiency 80 DAP makes the accession an outstanding [41]. Cu and Mn together with Zn are important candidate for utilization in breeding towards components of antioxidant enzymes -superoxide drought escape. dismutases [42]. Taking into consideration that the estimated safe and adequate daily dietary However, the concentration of Fe recorded by intake (ESADDI) levels of Cu and Mn are 1.5 - the accession ‘Awerema’ (386.6 mg kg-1) was 3.0 mg and 2.0 – 5.0 mg respectively [24], all the six times more than that contained in the accessions investigated would adequate supply accession previously noted to contain the highest the required amounts of Cu and Mn except Davi Fe (64 mg kg-1) according to Kennedy and and SARI 1 whose contents of Cu are slightly Burlingame [40]. Although different soil types and less than the ESADDI of Cu. On the other hand, the amount of soluble Fe available for utilization K is crucial for heart function and plays a key role by can influence the uptake of Fe into a in skeletal and smooth muscle contraction, and its translocation into seed [41], the high making it important for normal digestive and Fe concentration recorded by Awerema cannot muscular function. It also plays an active role in be attributed to the influence of the soil due to its lowering blood pressure (in a dose-responsive consistently high value recorded for all the four manner), in both hypertensive and non- randomised blocks. Given that the recommended hypertensive patients in observational studies, daily allowances (RDAs) of Fe for males and clinical and several meta-analyses [43]. Judging females are 12 mg and 15 mg respectively and from the contents of the caryopses in comparison those for Zn are 15 mg (males) and 10 mg with RDA value of 2000 mg, all the accessions (females), it is obvious that ingestion of any of studied are deficient in potassium [24]. Values the accessions especially N/4 and Awerema obtained in this study for all the accessions with could probably supply the needed amount of Fe respect to contents of Cu, Mn and K were either and Zn required daily. Hence their usefulness in lower, comparable or higher than those reported biofortification. [44] for the same elements.

The concentration of Ca recorded by all Significant correlation coefficient (absolute) at P accessions was low compared with the RDA of < 0.05 between pairs of the elements contained 800 mg for both males and females [24] and in the 18 accessions revealed 90% weak

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correlation between pairs with Fe and Mn (r = COMPETING INTERESTS 0.84) as well as Zn and Mg ( r = 0.53) as the only exceptions. This suggests the possibility for a Authors have declared that no competing breeder to simultaneously select for higher interests exist. concentrations of these pairs of elements in a breeding program involving biofortification of REFERENCES these elements. Iron and Mn are present in Awerema at concentrations higher than all the 1. Global Rice Science Partnership. other accessions, making this accession a good Sustainable crop productivity increase for candidate for biofortification. Also, Zn and Mg are global food security: A CGIAR research two elements that were highly concentrated in program on rice- based production the accession N/4 revealing it as another systems. 2010;6–20. Assessed 10 August candidate for future breeding work. 2013. Available: http://www. cigar. The inverse association (r = -0.21) between Fe org/.../GRiSP%20proposal_rev3%20Sept and Zn is consistent with earlier findings [45,46] %2016_2010.pdf which recorded the association between Fe and 2. FARA. Patterns of change in rice Zn to be r = -0.11 and r = -0.157 respectively. production in Africa: Implications for rice Inverse correlation between contents of Fe and policy development. Ministerial Policy Brief Zn for the accessions suggests wide diversity in series Number 2. Accra, Ghana. 2009;1-7. their genomic constitutions [45]. The R-value, not 3. Haskins J, Mohapatra S. Endangered significant, indicates that the accumulation and African rice varieties gain elite status: New enhancement of either mineral would not findings underline the promise of influence the content or concentration of the genetically diverse African rice for boosting other; hence the two are independently inherited production and adapting it to climate [24,45]. Nevertheless, results of the present change. Cotonou, Benin. Eurek Alert. study are inconsistent with findings of earlier 2010;1-3. Assessed 12 June 2012. workers [13,47,48] who reported that Available:http://www.eurekalert.org/pubrele accumulation of seed Fe and Zn contents had ases/2010-05/bc-ear051810.php significant correlation and that the genetic factors 4. Africa Rice Centre. Medium-Term Plan for increasing Fe content are co-segregating with 2010–2012 (ARC, ed.). 2012;1-4. the genetic factors for increasing Zn content. Accessed 5 July 2013. Available:http:www.africarice.org/warda/mt 4. CONCLUSION p.asp 5. Doku HA. Charaterisation of some The study did not identify any single accession accessions of indigenous rice (Oryza with high or appreciable levels of both Fe and Zn, glaberrima Steud.) in Ghana. M. Phil the two elements considered vital in alleviating thesis, University of Ghana, Legon-Accra. micro-nutrient malnutrition in the world. However, 2011;1-171. high amounts of Zn and Fe contained in N/4 and 6. SWAC/EOCD. Rice crisis, market trends Awerema, respectively, suggest their suitability and food security in West Africa. Briefing for utilization in a hybridization program towards note 2 by SWAC/OECD club secretariat. developing new lines of rice rich in both Fe and 2011;1-11. Zn. 7. Rice International Commodity Profile-FAO; 2006. Accessed 5 July 2013. Currently, improvement in rice technology Available:http://www.fao.org/fileadmin/tem requires a variety of approaches including plates/est/COMM_MARKETS_MONITORI fortification techniques and / or increasing NG/Rice/ Documents /Rice_Profile_Dec- micronutrient content of the grain through genetic 06.pdf modification. However, enhancing nutritional 8. Gregorio GB, Htut T, Cabuslay GS. quality through hybridization holds the greatest Breeding for Micronutrient enriched Rice. promise in the near future, based on the success In: Banuelos GS, Lin Z-Q (eds.). story of NERICA, provided the varieties identified Development and uses of biofortified possess no barriers to hybridization. agricultural products. 2010;171–180. 9. Begin F, Greig A. Food Fortification in West Africa: Assessment of opportunities and strategies. A background paper

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