Geographical traceability of wolfberry pulp: Integrating stable isotopes, minerals, nutrients, and chemometric

Abstract

The determination of the origin of wolfberry (Lycium barbarum) pulp in China remains a challenge despite its nutritional significance and popularity among consumers. To address this gap, 144 samples from four distinct regions in China were analyzed using nutrient elements, stable isotopes combined with multi-element assessments. Chemometric analyses successfully demonstrated the initial separation of wolfberry pulp samples. Notably, a nutrient element (Glucose) along with 12 mineral elements (Tb, Co, Fe, Cd, Pr, V, Mo, Gd, Al, Mg, As, Zn) emerged as pivotal factors for origin identification. Furthermore, employing a random forest algorithm resulted in the highest classification accuracy of 100 %, surpassing support vector machine (96.43 %) and K-nearest (71.43 %) methods. The study's findings underscore the efficacy of utilizing stable isotopes, mineral elements, and nutritional composition as effective markers for tracing the origin of wolfberry pulp. Moreover, this methodology offers promising insights into the potential identification of origins for other agricultural products.