Abstract
The development of analytical methods aimed at tracing agri-food products and assessing their authenticity is essential to protect food commercial value and human health. An NMR-based non-targeted method is applied here to establish the authenticity of saffron samples. Specifically, 40 authentic saffron samples were compared with 18 samples intentionally adulterated by using turmeric and safflower at three different concentration levels, i.e., 5, 10, and 20 wt%. Statistical processing of NMR data furnished useful information about the main biomarkers contained in aqueous and dimethyl sulfoxide extracts, which are indicative of the presence of adulterants within the analyzed matrix. Furthermore, a discrimination model was developed capable of revealing the type of agronomic practice adopted during the production of this precious spice, distinguishing between organic and conventional cultivation. The main objective of this work was to provide the scientific community involved in the quality control of agri-food products with an analytical methodology able to extract useful information quickly and reliably for traceability and authenticity purposes. The proposed methodology turned out to be sensitive to minor variations in the metabolic composition of saffron that occur in the presence of the two adulterants studied. Both adulterants can be detected in aqueous extracts at a concentration of 5 wt%. A lower limit of detection was observed for safflower contained in organic extracts in which case the lowest detectable concentration was 20%.
Highlights
IntroductionTo face the high economic damage and to prevent potential high risk for human health, the scientific community is working hard to develop new technologies and new analytical approaches to achieve complete traceability of the food chain
It represents one of the metabolites majorly responsible for the typical bitter taste of saffron [45]. It has been previously reported as occurring from degradation of picrocrocin in aqueous saffron spice extracts upon thermal treatment [46]
A non-targeted NMR screening was performed on a group of authentic saffron samples and on a group of saffron samples intentionally adulterated by the addition of safflower and turmeric at different concentrations
Summary
To face the high economic damage and to prevent potential high risk for human health, the scientific community is working hard to develop new technologies and new analytical approaches to achieve complete traceability of the food chain In this context, the combination of blockchain and artificial intelligence is becoming a valuable tool to trace the several stages within the food chain, including all processes from the acquisition of raw materials to production, consumption, and disposal [2]. The “traditional” approach relies on a targeted analytical method, by which a few a priori known compounds are detected and, eventually, quantified This approach may fail when unknown substances are indicative of either accidental or intentional alteration of the food product. The non-targeted analytical method is becoming a more valuable tool for quality control and authenticity assessment [3]
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