Rethinking Rice Preparation for Highly Efficient Removal of Inorganic Arsenic Using Percolating Cooking Water

A novel way of cooking rice to maximize the removal of the carcinogen inorganic arsenic (As(i)) is presented here. In conventional rice cooking water and grain are in continuous contact, and it is known that the larger the water:rice cooking ratio, the more As(i) removed by cooking, suggesting that the As(i) in the grain is mobile in water. Experiments were designed where rice is cooked in a continual stream of percolating near boiling water, either low in As(i), or As(i) free. This has the advantage of not only exposing grain to large volumes of cooking water, but also physically removes any As(i) leached from the grain into the water receiving vessel. The relationship between cooking water volume and As(i) removal in conventional rice cooking was demonstrated for the rice types under study. At a water-to-rice cooking ratio of 12:1, 57±5% of As(i) could be removed, average of 6 wholegrain and 6 polished rice samples. Two types of percolating technology were tested, one where the cooking water was recycled through condensing boiling water steam and passing the freshly distilled hot water through the grain in a laboratory setting, and one where tap water was used to cook the rice held in an off-the-shelf coffee percolator in a domestic setting. Both approaches proved highly effective in removing As(i) from the cooking rice, with up to 85% of As(i) removed from individual rice types. For the recycled water experiment 59±8% and 69±10% of As(i) was removed, on average, compared to uncooked rice for polished (n=27) and wholegrain (n=13) rice, respectively. For coffee percolation there was no difference between wholegrain and polished rice, and the effectiveness of As(i) removal was 49±7% across 6 wholegrain and 6 polished rice samples. The manuscript explores the potential applications and further optimization of this percolating cooking water, high As(i) removal, discovery.