Arsenic (As) is a toxic environmental pollutant that occurs naturally in soil and groundwater as inorganic and organic forms. The global dietary preference and high grain As accumulation potential in rice, proclaims rice as one of the chief source of As entry in food chain. Among all the cultivated crops rice has more than 10-fold tendency to accumulate carcinogenic arsenic. Rice is majorly grown under reduced state which favors inorganic arsenic (As+3) availability in soil, its uptake and accumulation in grains. However, this problem is becoming worse as most of the places in India are affected by severe arsenic contamination and Chhattisgarh state is one of them. Persistent consumption of arsenic can cause severe health issues like chronic cancer and various neurological disorders. Effective measures must be taken to reduce and mitigate this concern for As-safe rice. Most of the approaches on reducing accumulation of arsenic in rice utilizes agronomic, and biotechnological approaches but undermining natural variation can be the most economical way to mitigate this concern. This article comprehensively summarizes different ways to reduce arsenic in rice grains.
Arsenic, Rice, Natural variation, Mitigation strategies
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