การตรวจสอบความบริสุทธิ์ของตัวอย่างข้าวหอมมะลิไทยจากตลาดค้าปลีกและค้าส่งในสาธารณรัฐประชาชนจีนด้วยเครื่องหมายดีเอ็นเอ

Abstract

Sixty percent of the population or about 700 million people of the People republic of China consume rice as staple food. This is accountable for 135 million tons or 1/3 of world rice consumption annually. The products for domestic consumption are mainly produced within the country. China imports only small amount of rice each year, but 95% of the imported products are Thai Hom Mali rice. However, the production of Thai Hom Mali rice is limited and the price is almost double of that of Chinese rice. This leads to a problem with mixing Thai Hom Mali with other cultivars and sold under Thai Hom Mali brand by traders. The Royal Thai Consulate-General Office at Guangzhou, PRC, has concerned about this problem and has set up the project to study the causes and effects of impurity in Thai Hom Mali rice in both retail and wholesale markets in PRC. The objectives of this study are to analyze the severity of impurity problem in Thai Hom Mali in Chinese markets, to determine the impacts on stakeholders and to propose solutions and action plans to policy makers. The Rice Department by Ubon Ratchathani Rice Research Center has collected rice samples and analyzed for the purity of those samples. Results from the study showed that among 107 samples collected from retailed markets, 43 samples indicated on the package that they were Thai Hom Mali rice. When analyzed with 4 DNA markers, only 24 samples (55.8%) met the export standard for Thai Hom Mali. Forty-five samples indicated on their packages that they were Thai fragrant rice, but only 3 samples (6.7%)