Developing rice varieties biofortified with iron (Fe) and zinc (Zn) is an important strategy to alleviate
nutritional deficiencies in developing countries, where polished rice is consumed as the staple food. In
this study, the contents of several macro- and micro-minerals in polished rice grains of cultivar IR64 and
its 254 sodium azide-induced mutants (M8 generation) were assessed. The results indicated that the
contents of potassium, phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, iron, manganese, copper, and zinc varied
among the tested mutants. The polished rice grains of mutants M-IR-75 and M-IR-58 accumulated more
Fe (28.10 and 27.26 mg kg1, respectively) than cultivar IR64 (3.90 mg kg1). Mutant M-IR-75 also
produced higher yield (average of 8.65 ton ha1 over two crop seasons) than cultivar IR64 (average of
7.27 ton ha1). Mutants M-IR-180, M-IR-49 and M-IR-175 contained more Zn (26.58, 28.95 and
26.16 mg kg1, respectively) than cultivar IR64 (16.00 mg kg1), but only mutant M-IR-180 showed a
grain yield comparable to cultivar IR64. Thus, the mutant M-IR-75 can be recommended to rice growers
to produce Fe-rich rice grains. Additionally, the high-Fe (M-IR-75 and M-IR-58) and high-Zn (M-IR-180,
M-IR-49 and M-IR-175) mutants can be used as genetic resources for rice improvement programs