Identification of plastic rice in adulterated raw and cooked rice

Abstract

In the present study, attempts have been made to identify the presence of plastic rice in adulterated raw and cooked rice by comparing the compositional and morphological properties of fake rice and real rice using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) techniques. Various rice samples from the national capital region of India were studied for their compositional and morphological properties. The surface morphology of real rice and plastic rice was analyzed using scanning electron microscopy. Results suggest that plastic rice used as an adulterant in raw or cooked rice is made up of polystyrene, which is a well-known toxic chemical entity. The studies suggest that these techniques can be used as a scientific tool to detect and identify the presence of plastic rice in adulterated raw and cooked rice.

Keywords:

• Rice
• plastic rice
• adulteration
• polystyrene

Acknowledgments

The manuscript has been identified with Number SRI-MS#20220608-01 by Shriram Institute for Industrial Research. The authors extend sincere thanks to the management of the Shriram Institute for Industrial Research for providing financial support and infrastructure facility for bringing the manuscript to its present form.

Author contributions

Conceptualization: Mukul Das and Nidhi Gupta; Investigation: Nidhi Gupta, Ruchi Singh, Vishal Gupta; Data Analysis: Nidhi Gupta and D P Jain; Writing- Original Draft: Nidhi Gupta, Writing-review & editing: Mukul Das; Supervision: D P Jain and Mukul Das.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that there is no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could influence the work discussed in this paper.

Ethics approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work is fully funded by Shriram Institute for Industrial Research and not funded by any external agency.