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Basmati rice is the largest selling type of rice on the UK market because it is valued for its aroma and cooking properties. Although the geographic origin of Basmati is protected, the definition of Basmati is not protected in law in the UK, and its protection has been achieved through an industry and enforcement authority Code of Practice. When the first Code was published in 2005, there were 15 rice varieties mainly landrace varieties, which could be labelled as Basmati. A DNA  assay using single sequence repeats (SSRs or microsatellites) was developed to authenticate Basmati varieties and distinguish them from non-Basmati rice on a qualitative and quantitative basis. However, since 2005 both India and Pakistan have been plant breeding Basmati for disease resistance, salt tolerance and better yield such that the Code of Practice was amended to include an extra 25 varieties of Basmati rice in 2017. As the genetic diversity of these new varieties is greater than the original set of Basmati varieties, the SSR assay originally developed could no longer be used, and a project was commissioned to develop a more appropriate set of DNA markers.  

Using the results of a previous project to select markers from new information from whole genome sequencing of Basmati and non-Basmati varieties, a new approach using a PCR based genotyping technology called KASP (Kompetitive Alelle Specific PCR) was developed. A sub-set of 69 DNA KASP markers (out of an original 327) was successfully found to be able to distinguish between most of the 60 varieties tested, including some pairs of varieties that could not be distinguished using previous technique. The project has demonstrated that KASP assays are a feasible approach to distinguish between Basmati and non-Basmati varieties. The report suggests further work that would be needed to optimise and improve the reliability of the KASP assay technique (e.g. more replications and better samples of DNA to find more markers), this could then be used to design and develop a cost effective, fit for purpose method that can be applied by enforcement labs to verify labelling of Basmati rice.

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Basmati rice is a high value rice because of its unique organoleptic properties, and hence is vulnerable to adulteration by non-Basmati varieties. Authentication of Basmati rice has been based on specific varietal identification using DNA markers - microsatellites or more recently KASP markers. Pakistan has designated a specific geographical region for Basmati varieties to be grown and applied to the European Commission for PGI (Protected Geographical Indication) status of its Basmati rice.This study develops a method based on elemental analysis with chemometrics to differentiate rice grown inside and outside the recognised Basmati growing region. Sixty-four rice samples were collected from the Punjab region of Pakistan, 21 from the PGI region and 43 outside this region. Elemental analysis by ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry) of 71 elements was performed on the samples and combined with DD-SIMCA (data-driven soft independent modelling by class analogy) for the differentiation of Pakistani rice grown inside and outside the PGI Basmati growing region, The model obtained achieved a sensitivity and specificity of 100% and 98%, respectively.

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Basmati rice is a high value popular type of rice based on its distinctive organoleptic properties. Approval of varieties meeting the specification laid down for Basmati rice is undertaken by the Indian and Pakistani Export Authorities, and these have been accepted in a UK industry/enforcement Code of Practice (COP). Originally 15 varieties were approved to be marketed as Basmati, 9 of which are allowed to be imported tariff free into the EU as brown rice. New varieties have been bred for higher yield, disease and pest resistance, as well as salt tolerance, and 25 new varieties have been added to the COP. This has resulted in the need for new DNA markers to be investigated as the original DNA microsatellite method cannot identify the new varieties effectively. This study details whether single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) and insertion/deletion (InDel) variations developed into KASP™ (Kompetitive Allele Specific PCR; LGC Biosearch Technologies) were more effective DNA markers for all the approved varieties of Basmati rice. The results provide a method that distinguishes 37 Basmati varieties from all others using between 3 and 8 KASP markers out of a pool of 98 informative markers. A reduced set of 24 KASP markers could determine whether a sample belongs to one of eight family groups.

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The UK Code of Practic for Basmati Rice was revised in 2017 to include 26 new varieties of Basmati developed by Indian and Pakistani plant breeders. This study by Eurofins reports the analysis of the DNA fingerprints of these cultivars using authentic samples from official sources to enable the authentication the new Basmati varieties. Results not only allow the enforcement of the revised CoP, but provide further insights into the genetic relationships between the varieties and their descended relationship with landrace and other hybrid varieties. The study also examined the genotype fgr, which is regarded as important for producing Basmati aroma, and this was found missing in 6 of the new varieties. It is not the only functional polymorphism associated with fragrance of rice and the content of aroma in these new varieties, so the study concludes that  these 6 varieties should be studied and further requirements should be defined, including the organoleptic characteristics of Basmati.

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