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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