Stability of Vitamins and Minerals in Coated and Extruded Fortified Rice Kernels Stored under Real-Life Conditions over Two Years and Implications for Standards
Received date: 2025-12-05
Accepted date: 2026-03-20
Online published: 2026-04-24
Rice fortification is a cost-effective intervention to address and prevent micronutrient deficiencies in contexts where rice is a staple food. The stability of such added micronutrients is of critical importance, especially when rice is stored under harsh storage conditions. Coated and extruded fortified rice kernels (FRKs) containing vitamins A, B1, B3, B6, B9, and B12, zinc, and iron, as well as bulk rice fortified with these kernels, were stored in different packaging materials over periods of 24 and 26 months, respectively. Blending, final packaging, and storage were conducted in Madhya Pradesh, in central India, which experiences a subtropical monsoon climate condition. Large variations in the analytical results were observed for the fortified rice samples, mostly due to non-homogeneous distribution of the FRKs within the bulk rice. Consequently, to reduce analytical variation, results were correlated with the concentration of vitamin B3 as an internal standard. Vitamins B3, B6, B9, and B12, zinc, and iron remained stable in both coated and extruded FRKs throughout storage, while vitamin B1 stability was higher in coated FRKs, with results consistent across packaging materials. The decay of vitamin B1 followed zero-order kinetics in extruded premix kernels stored in metallized paper bags and in rice fortified with these kernels across all packaging types, with half-lives of 20 and 34 months, respectively. Vitamin A decay followed first-order kinetics in both rice fortified with coated and extruded kernels, with half-lives of 6.8 and 15.1 months, respectively. In FRKs, vitamin A decay was best described by mixed-order kinetics, with half-lives of 6.5 months (coated) and 5.5 months (extruded). This study informed major revisions to the World Food Programme fortified rice specifications, including the removal of vitamin A due to its instability during storage, while confirming the stability of B vitamins, zinc, and iron, and highlighting the critical role of blending and analytical control practices.
Werner Nader , Deblina Sarkar , Melas Adoko , Saskia de Pee , Elise Ivarsen , Vitalii Shkliar , Sabine Meng Jensen , Johannes Hein . Stability of Vitamins and Minerals in Coated and Extruded Fortified Rice Kernels Stored under Real-Life Conditions over Two Years and Implications for Standards[J]. Rice Science, 2026 , 33(4) : 559 -570 . DOI: 10.1016/j.rsci.2026.03.007
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