Geographical origin traceability and identification of refined sugar using UPLC-QTof-MS analysis

Abstract

Authentication of geographical origin is essential to the food safety of refined sugar. This study aimed to determine the geographical origin traceability and authenticity of refined sugar in China. Ultra performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight Mass Spectrometry (UPLC-QTof-MS), instead of conventional stable isotope ratio mass spectrometer (IRMS), was used to detect the mass fragment ratios (Rδ-sucrose and Rδ-glucose) of refined sugar. These ratios could reflect the cultivation practice and environmental conditions. A total of 108 batches of samples were collected from six regions in China, and additional 72 samples were verified with support vector machines (SVM) model, in order to evaluate the accuracy of origin identification and composition prediction. Our results showed that 83.3% of the refined sugar was correctly classified based on the geographical region of origin under different environmental conditions. These findings indicate that the specified mass fragment ratio may be a promising approach for assessing the traceability and authenticity of refined sugar.