This document discusses fortifying rice with micronutrients like folic acid and vitamin B12. There are different fortification techniques including dusting, coating, and extrusion. Dusting involves dusting rice grains with micronutrient powder while coating sprays a fortification mix onto rice kernels. Extrusion uses rice flour, fortificants, and water to make dough that is extruded and cut before drying. Ensuring the fortified rice has proper qualities like appearance, taste and nutrient retention is important. Fortifying rice can help address deficiencies but also faces challenges with costs and reaching all people.

1. FORTIFICATION OF RICE
(Folic acid and Vitamin B12)
Aakriti
MSC 1130

2. Introduction
• Food fortification: The deliberate addition of
one or more micronutrients to particular
foods.
Types of fortification
Mass fortification
(general public)
Targeted fortification
(specific population)
Market-driven
Fortification
(business oriented
initiative)

3. Rice fortification
• Definition: Enrichment of rice with essential
micronutrients post harvesting to increase its
nutritional value.
• Why rice fortification??
Perfect food vehicle for fortification (staple
food).
Restores the nutritious components in milled
products.
Improves daily intake of essential nutrients.

4. Rice fortification terminology
• Fortificant: Source of each micronutrient.
• Fortificant mix: Blend of all the fortificants.
• Micronutrient premix: Fortificant mix ready for
use directly in rice fortification.
• Rice premix: Rice grains highly fortified with the
fortificant mix.
• Retail rice: Polished rice that is packaged at the
rice mills.
• Fortified rice: Retail rice combined with
micronutrient premix or the rice premix.
Source: Nina et al., 2012

5. Technologies for rice fortification
• Dusting
• Coating
• Extrusion
Cold
Hot

6. Dusting
• Fortification method: Dusting rice grain with
micronutrient premix powder (electrostatic
forces).
• Characteristics: Micronutrient premix on
kernel’s surface lost with rinsing and washing.
• Examples: Iron, vitamin B1, vitamin B3, folic
acid.
Source: Nina et al., 2012

7. Coating
• Fortification method: Fortification mix and
liquid made of waxes and gums is sprayed
onto the surface of rice kernels in several
layers.
• Characteristics: Distinctive color, smell and
taste.
• Examples: Vitamin B1, vitamin B3, vitamin B12,
vitamin E, folic acid, selenium, zinc.
Source: Nina et al., 2012

8. Cold extrusiuon
Dough
(Rice flour + fortificant mix + water)
Extrusion
(Pasta press, below 70ºC)
Cutting
Drying
Characteristics:
opaque, slightly off
color, easier to
distinguish from
rice kernels
Examples: Vitamin
B1, vitamin B3,
vitamin B12,
vitamin E, folic
acid, selenium, zinc
Source: Nina et al., 2012

9. Hot extrusion
Dough
(Rice flour + fortificant mix + water + steam)
Extrusion
[single or twin screw extruder, (70-110)º C]
Cutting
Drying
Characteristics: Similar
appearance as regular rice
(shine and transparency)
Examples: Vitamin B1, vitamin
B3, folic acid, zinc
Source: Nina et al., 2012

10. Quality assurance of fortified rice
• Grain shape (rice like or not)
• Appearance (off color or not)
• Odor (nil)
• Grain strength
• Moisture content (12%)
• KETT value (whiteness)
• Cooking quality (90% after rinsing & 80% after cooking)
• Weight
• Broken content (20%- grade #5, 15%- grade #3, 7%- grade #2)
• Microbial(Salmonella, E. coli, S. aureus, Yeast & mold,
Aflatoxin B1, B2, G1, G2)
• Coefficient of variation (<15%)
Source: Rice fortification toolkit, 2015

11. Folate fortification
• Essential coenzyme
• Deficiency causes: Megaloblastic anemia, birth defects
(neural tube defects), CVD, certain cancers
• Polished rice: 3-14 μg/100g (poor source)
• General range of fortification (USFDA): 100-300
μg/100g
• Criteria for a good folic acid fortification:
 Prevent the leaching of vitamins during washing and
cooking
 Mask the yellow color of folic acid in fortified rice

12. Folate fortification techniques
• Coating: Spraying first with folic acid solution
followed by coating with ethyl cellulose (Ashok et
al., 2003)
• Parboiling: 70ºC soaking for 3 h with a fortificant
concentration of 1.2 g/300g brown rice showed
90% of folate retention {20-300 μg/g}(Karrie et
al., 2012)
• Biofortification: Over expressing two Arabidopsis
thaliana genes leads to rise in folate retention by
15-100 folds (Storozhenko et al., 2007)

13. Vitamin B12 fortification
• Cofactor (synthesis of methionine)
• Metabolic role is closely related to folate
• Deficiency causes: Megaloblastic anemia, neurological
disorders
• No effect on color and is neutral in taste
• Soaking: 90ºC for 15 min (Karathanos et al., 2011)
• Spraying: At 35ºC followed by oven drying (Karathanos
et al., 2011)
• For physiological reasons, it is highly recommended to
fortify rice with both folate and vitamin B12.

14. Advantages
• Retention of micronutrients.
• Improves nutritional status of population.
• Does not require any change in the existing
food pattern.
• Minimal risk of chronic toxicity.
• Similar to regular rice.

15. Limitations
• High cost of fortification.
• Cannot be consumed by all members of
targeted population.
• Often fail to reach the poorest segment of
population.
• Technological issues.
• Lack of knowledge.

16. Conclusion
• Rice fortification can make a significant contribution
to addressing micronutrient deficiencies.
• A broad multi-sectoral strategy should be employed
to improve micronutrient health.
• Current technology can produce fortified rice that is
safe, looks and tastes similar to regular rice.
• Rice fortification has the greatest potential for public
health impact when it is mandated and well
regulated.
• As rice fortification is scaled up, it will achieve
economies of scale which will reduce costs.

17. References
• Ashok et al., 2003. Food Research
International.
• Karathanos et al., 2011. LWT - Food Science
and Technology.
• Karrie et al., 2012. Journal of Cereal Science.
• Nina et al.,2015. Food and Nutrition Bulletin.
• Rice fortification toolkit, 2015
• Storozhenko et al., 2007. Nat Biotechnol.

18. THANKS!!