Authenticating the geographical origin of the Chinese yam (Tiegun) with stable isotopes and multiple elements

Feng Xiong; Chaogeng Lyu; Chuanzhi Kang; Xiufu Wan; Jiahui Sun; Tielin Wang; Sheng Wang; Haiyan Li; Jian Yang; Lanping Guo

doi:10.1016/j.fochx.2023.100678

Authenticating the geographical origin of the Chinese yam (Tiegun) with stable isotopes and multiple elements

Food Chem X. 2023 Apr 17:18:100678. doi: 10.1016/j.fochx.2023.100678. eCollection 2023 Jun 30.

Authors

Feng Xiong^{1

2}, Chaogeng Lyu^{1

2}, Chuanzhi Kang^{1

2}, Xiufu Wan^{1

2}, Jiahui Sun^{1

2}, Tielin Wang^{1

2}, Sheng Wang^{1

2}, Haiyan Li³, Jian Yang^{1

2}, Lanping Guo^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ State Key Laboratory Breeding Base of Dao-di Herbs, National Resource Center for Chinese Materia Medica, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, PR China.
² Key Laboratory of Biology and Cultivation of Herb Medicine, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Beijing 100700, PR China.
³ Institute of Information on Traditional Chinese Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, PR China.

Abstract

The Chinese yam, an important orphan crop with both high nutrient and health promoting value, is mainly produced in the Yellow-Huai-Hai plain near the river basins in China. The protected designation of origin (PDO)-labeled Chinese yam differs greatly from others in market acceptance and price, which has led to fakes and the need for reliable authentication methods. Hence, stable isotope ratios of δ ¹³C, δ ¹⁵N, δ ²D, and δ ¹⁸O and 44 multielemental contents were used to explore the authentication of geographical origins and the effect of environmental factors. Twenty-two elements and δ ¹⁵N were selected as the key variables to authenticate Chinese yams from three river basins as well as to authenticate them among traditional PDOs and others in the Yellow River basin. Moreover, six environmental factors, including the moisture index, maximum temperature, photosynthetically active radiation, soil organic carbon, total nitrogen and pH, were found to be highly related to these variances.

Keywords: Chinese yam (Tiegun); Environmental factors; Geographical authentication; Multielements; Stable isotopes.