The prevalence of mycotoxins in the environment is associated with potential crop contamination, which results in an unavoidable increase in human exposure. Rice, being the second most consumed cereal worldwide, constitutes an important source of potential contamination by mycotoxins. Due to the increasing number of notifications reported, and the occurrence of mycotoxins at levels above the legislated limits, this work intends to compile the most relevant studies and review the main methods used in the detection and quantification of these compounds in rice. The aflatoxins and ochratoxin A are the predominant mycotoxins detected in rice grain and these data reveal the importance of adopting safety storage practices that prevent the growth of producing fungi from the Aspergillus genus along all the rice chain. Immunoaffinity columns (IAC) and QuECHERS are the preferred methods for extraction and purification and HPLC-MS/MS is preferred for quantification purposes. Further investigation is still required to establish the real exposition of these contaminants, as well as the consequences and possible synergistic effects due to the co-occurrence of mycotoxins and also for emergent and masked mycotoxins.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the staple food of more than half of the world’s population. The main factors affecting the quality of rice include grain length, texture, stickiness, flavor, and aroma. Pesticides are intended for the protection of plant products from weeds, fungi, or insects. However, pesticides also result in negative effects such as environment disturbances, pest resistance and toxicity to both users and food consumers. The aim of this study was to conduct validation experiments of a method for the determination of multi-pesticides in rice, a model food of other cereals. A quick, easy, cheap, effective, rugged, and safe (QuEChERS) method was used for the extraction of pesticide residues from rice followed by high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS/MS) with a triple quadrupole instrument using electrospray ionization. The analytical method has chromatography-tandem according to SANTE/11813/2017. The limit of quantification was 5 μg/kg. Recoveries for the 155 analyzed pesticides ranged between 77.1% for pirimiphos-ethyl and 111.5% for flutriafol and they were determined at 3 spiking levels. The proposed method was demonstrated to be quick, simple, precise, and accurate and allowed for evaluating the compliance of cereals samples with legislated maximum residue levels of pesticides in the European Union.