The study aims to seek the dietary strategies to reduce the bioaccessibility of Cd and As in contaminated rice. A total of 12 selected food matrices were assayed by using the in vitro gastrointestinal digestion models. The results showed that tomato, carrot, water spinach, and spinach reduced the solubility of Cd by 45-78%, 50-71%, 53-70%, and 45-71%, respectively. Meanwhile, tomato, carrot, potato, and sweet potato reduced the solubility of As by 53-79%, 50-80%, 40-71%, and 36-76% in aqueous solution, respectively. In both gastric and gastrointestinal phases, Cd and As bioaccessibility decreased as the amount (100, 200, or 400 mg) of food matrices increased (except for As in water spinach). These results suggested that the uses of some foodstuffs may be a good dietary strategy to reduce Cd and As bioaccessibility, although in vivo studies are required to confirm their suitability.
Keywords: Arsenic; Bioaccessibility; Cadmium; Contaminated rice; In vitro digestion; Unified BARGE method (UBM).