Assessment of Grain Zinc, Iron and Protein Content in Selected Red Rice (Oryza Sativa L.) Mutant Lines

Abstract

Traditional red rice cultivars grown in coastal regions of Karnataka are popular as food and medicine and specifically in promoting lactation. Effect of zinc, iron and protein deficiency is more in children and lactating women. Analysis of variance evidenced that treatment with gamma rays created significant variability and all the mutant lines exhibited wide range of values for zinc (20-41.5ppm), iron (10-35 ppm), protein content (8-11.9g/100 g) and yield traits. Grain zinc exhibited negative significant association with grain yield per plant, while protein and iron content showed non-significant and negative association with grain yield per plant and very low residual effect of 0.2721 indicated that the traits included in this study explained high percentage of variation in the grain yield and grain zinc, iron and protein content. BMRM15 and BMRM13 mutants showed reduced plant height, early maturity, recorded one percentage increase of protein (9.5% and 10.0%), higher zinc (28 and 25 ppm) and iron content (17 and 13 ppm). These mutant lines can supplement the micronutrient requirement of consumers and also help prevent the micronutrient deficiency