Stable isotope and elemental profiles determine geographical origin of saffron from China and Iran

Jing Nie; Jian Yang; Cuiling Liu; Chunlin Li; Shengzhi Shao; Chunxia Yao; Bilian Chen; Yi Tao; Fang Wang; Yongzhi Zhang; Karyne M Rogers; Ping Wang; Yuwei Yuan

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.134733

Stable isotope and elemental profiles determine geographical origin of saffron from China and Iran

Food Chem. 2023 Mar 30;405(Pt A):134733. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.134733. Epub 2022 Nov 2.

Authors

Jing Nie¹, Jian Yang², Cuiling Liu³, Chunlin Li¹, Shengzhi Shao¹, Chunxia Yao⁴, Bilian Chen⁵, Yi Tao⁶, Fang Wang¹, Yongzhi Zhang¹, Karyne M Rogers⁷, Ping Wang⁸, Yuwei Yuan⁹

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, Hangzhou 310021, China; Institute of Agro-Products Safety and Nutrition, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Information Traceability for Agricultural Products, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Hangzhou 310021, China.
² State Key Laboratory of Dao-di Herbs Breeding Base, National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China.
³ Beijing Key Laboratory of Big Data Technology for Food Safety, Beijing Technology and Business University, Beijing 100048, China.
⁴ Institute for Agro-food Standards and Testing Technology, Shanghai Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shanghai 201403, China.
⁵ Zhejiang Institute for Food and Drug Control, Hangzhou 310052, China.
⁶ College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China.
⁷ State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, Hangzhou 310021, China; Institute of Agro-Products Safety and Nutrition, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Information Traceability for Agricultural Products, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Hangzhou 310021, China; National Isotope Centre, GNS Science, Lower Hutt 5040, New Zealand.
⁸ College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China. Electronic address: wangping45@aliyun.com.
⁹ State Key Laboratory for Managing Biotic and Chemical Threats to the Quality and Safety of Agro-products, Hangzhou 310021, China; Institute of Agro-Products Safety and Nutrition, Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Key Laboratory of Information Traceability for Agricultural Products, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs of China, Hangzhou 310021, China. Electronic address: ywytea@163.com.

PMID: 36370565
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2022.134733

Abstract

Origin verification of high-value saffron is essential for fair trade and to protect consumers' interests and rights. A traceability method using elemental content (% C and % N) and stable isotopes (δ¹³C, δ²H, δ¹⁸O, and δ¹⁵N) combined with chemometrics was developed to discriminate saffron from Iran and China and classify major domestic production areas in China. Results showed that Iranian samples had lower % C and % N contents but higher δ¹³C values than Chinese origin saffron, with δ¹³C acting as an important variable for origin discrimination. Moreover, δ²H and δ¹³C isotopes were found to be important variables to classify Chinese regional saffron origin. Two supervised pattern recognition models (PLS-DA) developed to classify Iranian and Chinese saffron, and regional Chinese saffron had a discrimination accuracy of 85.0 % and 80.2 %, respectively. These models provide the basis for a new regulatory inspection procedure to verify saffron origin and label claims, minimizing fraudulent mislabeling and adding value to saffron from specific regions.

Keywords: Chemometrics; Geographical origin; Saffron; Stable isotopes; Traceability.

MeSH terms

Carbon Isotopes / analysis
China
Crocus*
Geography
Iran
Isotopes / analysis
Nitrogen Isotopes / analysis

Substances

Isotopes
Carbon Isotopes
Nitrogen Isotopes