Antioxidant Profiling of Rice Varieties for Use as Therapeutic Diet

Nowadays, despite the production of a large number of new rice cultivars with improved yield and enhanced climate tolerance, the average person's nutritional needs are not being fulfilled. Although rice has higher antioxidant activity, which significantly improves human health. Objectives: To assess secondary metabolite composition and antioxidant potential of various local and mutant rice varieties. Methods: The Nuclear Institute of Agriculture (NIA) in Tandojam, Sindh, Pakistan, provided thirteen different rice cultivars. All experiments were carried out three times to find out the total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC) and to analyze the antioxidant potential of rice extracts with various solvents by DPPH, FRAP, Fe2+ chelating activity and OH- radical scavenging activity. Graph-Pad Prism 7.0 was applied for analysis of the data. Results: It was found through the study that mutant rice cultivars differ significantly (p<0.05) from local rice varieties. Rice varieties such as Sonehri Sugdasi, Shandar, and Shua-92 had the highest TPC, while Jajai-77, IRI-6, and Shandar had the highest TFC. Shua-92, Mehak and Shadab were found to be best at their antioxidant potential. Conclusions: It was concluded that mutant rice varieties showed a significant difference from their parent varieties. The study highlights the antioxidant potential as phenolics known for their antioxidant properties, are of interest, with higher consumption linked to reduced cardiovascular and cancer risks. Notable varieties included Sonehri, Sugdasi, Shandar, Shua-92, Jajai-77, RI-6, and Shandar for the highest TPC and TFC, respectively. It was found through the study that mutant rice cultivars differ significantly (p<0.05) from local rice varieties.