Abstract
As part of the ongoing work on the safety and security of foods grown locally and imported into Jamaica, twenty five rice brands available on the Jamaican market and one sample of locally grown brown rice were collected and analysed for 36 elements using a combination of instrumental neutron activation analysis, total reflection X-ray fluorescence, flame atomic absorption spectrometry and inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. Quality control for each of the techniques was provided by analysis of reference materials and inter-comparisons of common elements. Agglomerative hierarchical clustering analysis performed on the raw data set identified white, parboiled and brown rice as the major clusters. The element and cluster median concentration in μg/g (for polished, parboiled and brown respectively) for each of the three clusters were Al (8.7, 11.3, 14.9), As (0.20, 0.21, 0.15), Br (12.1, 0.9, 3.4), Ca (60.4, 409.1, 112.5), Co (0.1, 0.09, 0.11), Cr (0.11, 0.10, 0.11), Cs (0.012, 0.004, 0.018), Eu (0.004, 0.004, 0.003), Cu (2.2,2.7, 3.6), Fe (13, 17, 20), K (894,1,815,2,538), La (0.009, 0.014, 0.015), Mg (340, 504, 1,303), Mn (9.7, 14.9, 28.5), Mo (0.7, 1.1, 0.8), Na (5.1, 9.9, 16.9), P (936, 2,328, 3,670), Rb (4.5, 6.1, 7.3), S (1,088,1,308, 1,321), Sb (0.004, 0.006, 0.005), Sc (0.001, 0.002, 0.002), Se (0.09, 0.17, 0.16), Sm (0.001, 0.003, 0.001), Sr (2.0, 1.9, 2.9), V (0.036, 0.041, 0.058), Zn (17.9, 15.3, 22.8). The use of agglomerative hierarchical clustering has proven to be a rapid method for the analysis of the dataset, correctly clustering rice by process that is, polished, parboiled and brown, with sub-clusters that further identified location, cultivars and an adulterated sample. The data validated here has been used to estimate the elemental contribution of rice to the Jamaican diet.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Howe A, Hoo Fung L, Lalor G, Rattray R, Vutchkov M (2005) Elemental composition of Jamaican foods 1: a survey of five food crop categories. Environ Geochem Health 27:19–30
Kennedy G, Burlingame B, Nguyen VN (2002) Nutritional contribution of rice: impact of biotechnology and biodiversity in rice consuming nations. In: The International Rice Commission, twentieth session. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Bangkok
Wright PRD, Rattray R, Lalor G, Hanson R (2007) Minimal health impact from exposure to diet-sourced cadmium on a population in central Jamaica. http://hdl.handle.net/10625/44971. Accessed 10 Oct 2011
Lalor G (1996) A geochemical atlas of Jamaica. Canoe Press, Kingston
Johnson A, Lalor GC, Preston J, Robotham H, Thompson C, Voutchkov MK (1996) Heavy metals in Jamaican surface soil. Environ Geochem Health 18:113–121
Williams PN, Lei M, Sun G, Huang Q, Lu Y, Deacon C, Meharg AA, Zhu YG (2009) Occurrence and partitioning of cadmium, arsenic and lead in mine impacted paddy rice: Hunan, China. Environ Sci Technol 43:637–642
China rice laced with heavy metals, BEIJING (AFP) http://www.asiaone.com/print/Health/News/Story/A1Story20110217-263983.html. Accessed 23 Nov 2011
Pitiphunpong S, Champangern S, Suwannaporn P (2011) The Jasmine rice (KDML 105 variety) adulteration detection using physico-chemical properties. Chiang Mai J Sci 38(1):105–115
Bligh HFJ (2000) Detection of adulteration of Basmati rice with non-premium long grain rice. J Food Sci Technol 35:257–265
Antoine JMR, Hoo Fung L, Grant CN, Dennis HT, Lalor GC (2012) Dietary intake of minerals and trace elements in rice on the Jamaican market. J Food Compos Anal. doi:10.1016/j.jfca.2012.01.003
Lalor GC, Vutchkov MK, Grant C, Preston J, Figueiredo AMG, Favaro DIT (2000) INAA of biological materials using the SLOWPOKE-2 reactor in Jamaica. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 244(2):263–266
Streli C, Wobrauschek P, Pepponi G, Zoeger N (2004) A new total reflection x-ray fluorescence vacuum chamber with sample changer analysis using a silicon drift detector for chemical analysis. Spectrochimica Acta B 59:1199–1203
East Caribbean Rice Mills. http://www.ecgcsvg.com/ecrm.htm. Accessed 29 Nov 2011
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Grant, C.N., Dennis, H.T., Antoine, J.M.R. et al. Agglomerative hierarchical clustering analysis of twenty-six rice samples analysed by instrumental neutron activation analysis and other techniques. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 297, 233–239 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-012-2379-5
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-012-2379-5