Introduction: 

    The United Nations estimates that over 840 million people in the world suffer from malnourishment or dietary insufficiency. It is estimated that at least 799 million of these people live in the developing world. With the costs of food preservation, transportation and preparation being high, especially for countries with hundreds of millions of people in need, these statistics are comprehensible. Food preservation is one of the most costly ventures, as the time required to harvest crops and then ship them to the countries in need is longer than the time for which it remains fresh and edible. It seems, then, that a large amount of food spoilage and wastage could be eliminated if food was able to be kept longer, be it in silos, transport trucks, or markets. With this in mind, the idea for the following project was developed – the idea to use a food-grade inhibitor when attempting to prevent spoilage. The idea to use rice as the experimental subject came about as a result of further research into the major crops and exports of the world. These crops included maize, rice, oil palm, and more. In researching past experiments with these plants, few results were found and it seems that little work has been done. Much lab work has been conducted, however, using wheat, a common North American crop. Rice was then chosen because it is a main source of nutrition for the developing world.

          Food spoilage is any change which renders a product unacceptable for human consumption – any process which makes food inedible. Food spoilage encompasses physical damage, growth of microorganisms, slime formation, or insect damage. It has been estimated that as much as one quarter of the world’s food supply is lost to spoilage, namely microbial activity. Therefore, the enzymatic activity which takes place in sources of nourishment creates an annual financial and economic strain on many of the world’s nations.

          A main problem with the current work towards rectifying this problem of food spoilage is that the topic is generally inadequately understood. Because of this fact, it has been difficult to work towards preventing microbial action in major crops and food stores.

          Foods that are highly nutritious and have high moisture content spoil most rapidly; these foods include meat, poultry, fish, shellfish, milk and some dairy products. For the most part, food purchased and consumed in developed countries of the world are properly stored and prepared; the money is readily available to ensure safe standards of nutritional supplies. In less-developed countries, however, there is not an adequate supply of money for this high standard of food preparation to occur. While these rapidly-spoiling foods are not as commonly consumed in the developing world, their main staples including rice and maize will also spoil if left unpreserved. 

A grain of rice is the seed of the rice plant, a type of grass. The rice plant has narrow, tapered leaves and can grow to be anywhere from 60 to 180 centimeters tall. Several flower stalks grow from each rice plant. Once the grains have fully developed, the flowers droop with their weight and farmers begin to harvest. Rice plants require very tropical conditions in order to grow and survive. Many varieties are grown in flooded wetlands, such as many of those produced in China.

          The rice industry is one that many countries depend upon to feed their own populations. It is considered to be a significant agricultural crop in over 50 countries worldwide. In fact, rice provides 35-59 percent of the total food energy consumed by over 2.7 billion people (almost half the world’s population). In an ever-growing international market such as this, it is crucial that all of the products produced are of the highest quality. Researchers have been working for many years to genetically or physically modify rice grains to ensure that they are both stronger to withstand harvest methods, and also more nutritionally valuable to those consuming them. However, little progress has been made in the area of prevention or protection from spoilage.