With the ever-increasing global demand for high quality rice in both local production regions and with Western consumers, we have a strong desire to understand better the importance of the different traits that make up the quality of the rice grain and obtain a full picture of rice quality demographics. Rice is by no means a ‘one size fits all’ crop. Regional preferences are not only striking, they drive the market and hence are of major economic importance in any rice breeding / improvement strategy. In this analysis, we have engaged local experts across the world to perform a full assessment of all the major rice quality trait characteristics and importantly, to determine how these are combined in the most preferred varieties for each of their regions. Physical as well as biochemical characteristics have been monitored and this has resulted in the identification of no less than 18 quality trait combinations. This complexity immediately reveals the extent of the specificity of consumer preference. Nevertheless, further assessment of these combinations at the variety level reveals that several groups still comprise varieties which consumers can readily identify as being different. This emphasises the shortcomings in the current tools we have available to assess rice quality and raises the issue of how we might correct for this in the future. Only with additional tools and research will we be able to define directed strategies for rice breeding which are able to combine important agronomic features with the demands of local consumers for specific quality attributes and hence, design new, improved crop varieties which will be awarded success in the global market.

Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are a family of zinc dependent extracellular matrix (ECM) remodelling endopeptidases having the ability to degrade almost all components of extracellular matrix and implicated in various physiological as well as pathological processes. Carcinogenesis is a multistage process in which alteration of the microenvironment is required for conversion of normal tissue to a tumour. Extracellular matrix remodelling proteinases such as MMPs are principal mediators of alterations observed in the microenvironment during carcinogenesis and according to recent concepts not only have roles in invasion or late stages of cancer but also in regulating initial steps of carcinogenesis in a favourable or unfavourable manner. Establishment of relationships between MMP overproduction and cancer progression has stimulated the development of inhibitors that block proteolytic activity of these enzymes. In this review we discuss the MMP general structure, classification, regulation roles in relation to hallmarks of cancer and as targets for therapeutic intervention.

In rice-consuming countries, specific varieties are recognized as premium, "gold standard" varieties, while others are recognized as being superior but second best, despite being identical using the current suite of tools to evaluate quality. The objectives of this study were to determine if there are distinguishable differences in sensory properties of premium and second best varieties and whether these differences are common to premium varieties. Color, an important sensory property, was determined on the raw and cooked rice using a colorimeter. As raw rice, some of the premium varieties were whiter than their second best counterparts while others were not. However, when cooked, with two exceptions, the premium varieties were of the same or greater whiteness than their counterparts. A trained sensory panel employed descriptive sensory analysis, an objective tool, to characterize and analytically measure the flavor (aromatics, taste, mouthfeel) and texture of premium and second best varieties collected from nine rice-consuming countries. Sweet taste, popcorn aroma/ flavor, and water-like metallic mouthfeel showed significant differences in intensity between the premium-second best variety pairs. Slickness, roughness, and springiness were the major traits that distinguished the texture of varieties. Quality evaluation programs do not routinely measure these texture and flavor traits, but the fact that they distinguished the varieties in most pairs indicates that their measurement should be added to the suite of grain quality tests in the development of new higher-yielding, stresstolerant varieties. The incorporation of premium quality will ensure that quality is no impediment to widespread adoption leading to enhanced productivity and food security.

Amylose content is a parameter that correlates with the cooking behavior of rice. It is measured at the earliest possible stages of rice improvement programs to enable breeders to build the foundations of appropriate grain quality during cultivar development. Amylose is usually quantified by absorbance of the amylose-iodine complex. The International Network for Quality Rice (INQR) conducted a survey to determine ways that amylose is measured, reproducibility between laboratories, and sources of variation. Each laboratory measured the amylose content of a set of 17 cultivars of rice. The study shows that five different versions of the iodine