A profile of heavy metals in rice (Oryza sativa ssp. indica) landraces
Several traditional rice varieties are considered in folk medicine to have high nutritive and therapeutic value. Some of these land races are known in indigenous cultures to cure anaemia in women during and after pregnancy9 , and many of them (e.g. Kalabhat, Navara, Norungan, etc.) are now known to contain high levels of iron . Thousands of folk rice landraces are yet to be screened for their micronutrients content and therapeutic potential. Examination of heavy metal content in different varieties of rice is therefore necessary to understand the dynamics of nutrient uptake in rice from different types of soil, containing heavy metals of known beneficial or deleterious effects on human health.