Expression of quality of basmati rice (Oryza sativa L.) within and beyond geographical indication: ‘Penal test’ the traditional method for quality determination has an edge over molecular tools

Quality of Basmati rice is largely deteriorated due to admixture of non-Basmati grains and genotype x environment (GxE) interactions within and beyond geographical indication (GI) area. Traditional morpho-physico-chemical methods supplemented with sensory evaluation could determine the deterioration in quality of Basmati rice resulted from GxE interactions as well. Sensory evaluation of quality of basmati mainly involved appearance, ‘tenderness on touching and chewing’, aroma and ‘taste (mouth feel) the perception linked traits of human behavior. Findings of Human Genome Project have also, indicated that application of molecular markers were of limited value for prediction of human behavior. Grains of 4 varieties of Basmati rice produced within and beyond GI were analyzed for 13 quality parameters prescribed as per definition. Significant reduction was observed in expression of only three quality parameters elongation after cooking, elongation ratio and amylose contents when produced beyond GI. However, such expression pattern of quality parameters beyond GI was observed to be within tolerance limits of human sensory organs. It reflected that GI could not limit quality of Basmati rice. Limitations and relevance of molecular markers, traditional penal test methods for determination of quality of basmati were also discussed.