Proximate and Mineral Composition of Some Foreign and Local Rice Varieties Sold in Mile 3 Market, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria

Rice is a staple food in many countries of Africa and it is nutritionally beneficial. This research work compared the proximate composition and mineral composition of some local and foreign rice varieties. Four varieties of rice were analyzed; two types of local rice designated as (L1 and L2) and two types of foreign rice (F1 and F2). The proximate composition such as moisture content, ash content, carbohydrate content, crude protein, crude fiber and total fat were evaluated using standard methods.  The result of the analysis showed that the moisture content was lowest in L1 (8.56 ± 0.26g) and highest in sample L2 (9.47 ± 0.48g).  All the four varieties recorded high carbohydrate content. The fat content of L1 and L2 (1.19±0.20 - 2.48±0.90) were significantly higher (p<0.05) when compared to F1 and F2 (1.69±0.30 – 1.99± 0.20a). Crude fiber content for L1 and L2 (1.49±0.09 -1.69±0.09) were statistically higher compared to F1 and F2 (0.29±0.09b -0.39±0.01b). Crude protein for L1 and L2 (7.89±0.09 – 8.09±0.22) were significantly higher when compared to F1 and F2 (6.34± 0.22b – 7.22± 0.66). Ash content for L1 and L2 (0.60± 0.01-0.68±0.32) were statistically   lower compared to F1 and F2 (0.62±0.08 – 1.20± 0.20) Potassium and Zinc showed no significant difference in all samples apart from F1 where Potassium and Zinc were significantly different. Calcium values for foreign rice showed significant difference when compared to the values for local rice. Local rice appeared to have a relatively higher level of iron when compared to all the foreign rice samples. The values obtained from this study indicates that Nigerian local rice varieties are nutritionally better compared to foreign rice varieties.