1. Characterization of diverse rice accessions for protein content and its correlation with starch properties Maxwell Darko Asante, PhD CSIR-Crops Research Institute Ghana mdasante@gmail.com

2. Outline Introduction Materials and Methods Results and Discussion Summaries and Conclusions 2 2

3. Introduction 3 3

4. Source: FAO,2010 Average rice production growth rate=3.18% Average rice consumption growth rate= 4.52% Widening rice supply gap in SSA Rice imports=10.7 million MT (FAO, 2012) Average paddy yield (tons/ha) West Africa: 1.62 Central Africa: 0.96 Eastern Africa: 2.20 Southern Africa: 0.91 SSA: 1.51 Rice self-sufficiency status in Africa Rice is the fastest growing food source in Africa 4

5. Rice in Ghana Per capita consumption of rice has increased sharply the last two decades But 60-70% of rice consumed (about 1 million MT of milled rice per annum) is imported About US$300 million is spent annually on rice imports Source: MOFA 5 5

6. Reasons for Ghana’s high dependence on rice imports Low levels of investment in: – Research – Production – Marketing This has resulted in: – Low production levels – Poor grain quality 6

7. The rice grain is basically made of starch: Starch (~94%) Protein (~5%) Lipids (~1%) Source: IRRI Rice grain quality 7 7 However, variation in the amount of protein in different rice varieties has been reported

8. Importance of having rice with higher protein levels Rice is the main staple for most poor and malnourished families in Asia and sub-Saharan Africa The nutrition of rice consumers in poor countries can be improved by eating rice with higher protein content However, high protein content in rice may affect cooking and eating quality which is mainly determined by starch physicochemical properties 8 8

9. Objectives To determine the protein content of a diverse set of rice accessions To determine the correlation between protein content and starch properties including apparent amylose content (AAC), alkaline spreading value (ASV) and paste viscosity properties (RVA) in a diverse set of rice accessions 9 9

10. Materials & Methods 10

11. Plant Materials A total of 88 rice genotypes were used for the study – 65 rice accessions (breeding germplasm from Ghana referred to African genotypes in this report) – 23 U.S. cultivars (obtained from the USA) 11

12. Determination of protein content Protein content was determined by a nitrogen gas analyzer (Leco FP-2000) Total crude protein was calculated from the nitrogen content of the processed grain using the formula percentage nitrogen × 5.95 = percentage protein 12

13. 13 Auto Analyzer 3 machine was used to measure amylose content RVA was used to measure paste viscosity properties

14. RESULTS 14

15. Protein Content of African Rice Genotypes 15

16. Protein Content of USA Rice Genotypes 16

17. Correlation amongst starch properties and protein content 17 TraitsAACASVPVHPVCPVBDSBCSStabilitySB ratio ASV0.01 PV-0.55***0.21 HPV-0.160.31**0.76*** CPV0.27*0.29**0.46***0.88*** BD-0.68***0.020.76***0.16-0.18 SB0.74***0.10-0.45***0.190.59***-0.87*** CS0.59***0.190.010.50***0.86***-0.49***0.86*** Stability0.41***0.21-0.140.51***0.69***-0.74***0.83***0.70*** SB ratio0.68***-0.15-0.82***-0.65***-0.22*-0.60***0.53***0.30*0.03 Ptime0.210.250.100.36***0.45***-0.200.36***0.42***0.39***0.00 Protein0.31**-0.12-0.52***-0.23*0.00-0.57***0.47***0.24*0.36***0.45***

18. Summaries Protein content (PC) of African and U.S. rice genotypes were 6.2—13.9% and 5.5—11.3% respectively There was positive correlation between PC and, AAC and setback viscosity Correlation between PC and breakdown viscosity was negative 18

19. Conclusions The results indicate that rice with high protein is likely to have higher AAC and SBV, and lower BDV implying poorer cooking quality However, a local African variety with the highest protein content of 13.9% also had an intermediate AAC of 21.1% making it nutritious and suitable for eating by most rice consumers 19

20. Acknowledgement USDA Collaborators CRI Team