Effect of Rice Blast Pathogen (Pyricularia oryzae) on the Nutritional Profile of Rice inNigeria's Northern Guinea Savannah Ecological Zone

Abstract

A study was conducted to assess the effect of rice blast pathogen on the nutritional contentsofrice in the Guinea Savannah Ecological Zone of Nigeria. Rice blast has significantly affectedtheyield of rice in the study area, prompting the investigation to determine the incidence andseverityof the rice blast disease, isolate and identify the fungi associated with the blast, and evaluatetheeffect of the fungal pathogen on the nutritional content of the plant. All experiments wereconducted following standard procedures, and data were analyzed at a 5%probabilitylevel ofsignificance. The fungal pathogen was successfully isolated and identified fromdiseasedriceplants as Pyricularia oryzae, and its pathogenicity was confirmed through inducedblast symptoms on rice plants. Results of the proximate composition of the  fungal-infectedandapparently healthy rice showed that there was an increase in moisture (7.99%), ashextract (0.98%), and fiber (16.31%)  content in the fungal-infected rice compared to the apparentlyhealthy ones, which had 7.96%, 0.26%, and 13.58% moisture, ash extract,  and fiber content, respectively. Conversely, the protein (1.20%), fat (7.68%), and carbohydrate (71.91%) content ofthe apparently healthy  rice were relatively higher than those of the fungal-infected rice, whichhad0.88%, 6.13%, and 75.12% protein, fat, and carbohydrate  content, respectively. Althoughproximate analysis results showed differences in the nutritional contents of the diseasedandhealthy rice  samples, statistical analysis showed no significant difference between thetwosamples in terms of their ash and moisture contents.  Overall, this study provides insights intothenutritional changes associated with blast infection in rice plants. Such findings could  contributetothe development of effective strategies for managing rice blast disease and improvingriceproduction in Nigeria.