# Grain arsenic accumulation is independent of agronomic traits in rice under field conditions

## TL;DR

This study identifies rice varieties that accumulate less arsenic in their grains, which is important for reducing health risks from contaminated rice.

## Contribution

The study identifies rice genotypes with low grain arsenic accumulation and highlights the complexity of field screening for this trait.

## Key findings

- 120 rice genotypes showed a wide range of grain arsenic accumulation, with many exceeding WHO limits.
- Badsabhog Sel 1, Bahadur Sel 1, Bastul, and Kanaklata had the lowest arsenic accumulation.
- Grain arsenic accumulation is a complex trait with no significant correlation to agronomic traits.

## Abstract

Arsenic (As) is a toxic environmental pollutant and a group-1 carcinogen, posing serious concern for human health. Rice and rice-based food products are considered as one of the major sources for As contamination into the human food-chain. Hence, world-wide concerted research efforts are going on, either to identify and/or develop low-As accumulating rice genotypes. The present study evaluated the natural accessions of rice, comprising of landraces and farmer’s varieties, under the naturally As-contaminated sites of Chhattisgarh, India, which is well-known for its richness in terms of rice production as well as varietal diversity. The wide-range spectrum of grain-As was obtained in 120 selected genotypes, with 90 and 81 accessions having As-accumulation above the WHO permissible limit for white (0.2 mg kg−1) and brown (0.3 mg kg−1) rice, respectively. The lowest grain-As accumulation among the varieties was seen in cultivated varieties (Badsabhog Sel 1 and Bahadur Sel 1) and landraces (Bastul and Kanaklata), which can be either cultivated or used as suitable donor in breeding programs. Among different agronomic traits, the plant height was identified as most-responsive parameter for assessing As-toxicity. The comparative assessment of agro-morphological traits although showed variations under naturally As-contaminated site; however, no significant correlation was seen in terms of grain-As accumulation, indicating the complexity for on-site field screening of low As-accumulating genotypes. Taken together, the results identified the potential low-As accumulating genotypes and highlighted the grain-As accumulation, as a complex multi-genic trait.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12298-025-01597-z.