Authenticity Assessment Research Articles

Foodomics imaging by mass spectrometry and magnetic resonance.

This work explores the use of advanced imaging MS (IMS) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques in food science and nutrition to evaluate food sensory characteristics, nutritional value and health benefits. Determining the chemical content and applying imaging tools to food metabolomics offer detailed information about food quality, safety, processing, storage and authenticity assessment. IMS and MRI are powerful analytical systems with an excellent capability for mapping the distribution of many molecules, and recent advances in these platforms are reviewed and discussed, showing the great potential of these techniques for small molecule-based food metabolomics research.

Locally Grown, Natural Ingredients? The Isotope Ratio Can Reveal a Lot!

This communication gives an overview of selected isotope analyses applied to food authenticity assessment. Different isotope ratio detection technologies such as isotope ratio mass spectrometry (IRMS) and cavity ring down spectroscopy (CRDS) are briefly described. It will be explained how δ(18)O of water contained in fruits and vegetables can be used to assess their country of production. It will be explained why asparagus grown in Valais, in the centre of the Alps carries much less heavy water than asparagus grown closer to the sea coast. On the other hand, the use of δ(13)C can reveal whether a product is natural or adulterated. Applications including honey or sparkling wine adulteration detection will be briefly presented.

Application of Organic Acid Based Artificial Neural Network Modeling for Assessment of Commercial Vinegar Authenticity

Vinegar as a nutraceutical substance is classified to various types related to the different substances applied in production process. Therefore, identity of the source and authenticity of the samples would be inevitable. The present study addresses determination of organic acid composition of 47 vinegar samples categorized to four types including distilled, apple, grape, and pomegranate and uncategorized vinegars (5, 12, 15, 3, and 12 samples, respectively). High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was performed according to ICH guidelines using simple sample preparation for determination of eight organic acids including oxalic, formic, ascorbic, lactic, acetic, malic, citric, and propionic acids. Findings were treated by a nonlinear computational analysis called artificial neural network (ANN) utilizing a back propagation method for training the multilayer feed-forward neural network to determine vinegar type. HPLC method resulted in suitable separation where limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were ranged from 0.11 to 0.89 ppm and 0.34 to 2.69 in malic acid and oxalic acid, respectively. The recovery process was also ranged from 97.1 to 106.4 for oxalic acid in apple vinegar and lactic acid in grape vinegar, respectively. ANN modeling indicated a comparative model to recognize sample origin where accuracy estimation was 88.6 %. The obtained model was applied to determine the probable origin of some uncategorized commercial vinegars. It was concluded that ANN model along with analytical methods such as HPLC could be established for evaluation of commercial samples in food control laboratories.

Proteomics for the authentication of fish species

Assessment of seafood authenticity and origin, mainly in the case of processed products (fillets, sticks, baby food) represents the crucial point to prevent fraudulent deceptions thus guaranteeing market transparency and consumers health. The most dangerous practice that jeopardies fish safety is intentional or unintentional mislabeling, originating from the substitution of valuable fish species with inferior ones.Conventional analytical methods for fish authentication are becoming inadequate to comply with the strict regulations issued by the European Union and with the increase of mislabeling due to the introduction on the market of new fish species and market globalization.This evidence prompts the development of high-throughput approaches suitable to identify unambiguous biomarkers of authenticity and screen a large number of samples with minimal time consumption.Proteomics provides suitable and powerful tools to investigate main aspects of food quality and safety and has given an important contribution in the field of biomarkers discovery applied to food authentication. This report describes the most relevant methods developed to assess fish identity and offers a perspective on their potential in the evaluation of fish quality and safety thus depicting the key role of proteomics in the authentication of fish species and processed products. Biological significanceThe assessment of fishery products authenticity is a main issue in the control quality process as deceptive practices could imply severe health risks. Proteomics based methods could significantly contribute to detect falsification and frauds, thus becoming a reliable operative first-line testing resource in food authentication.

Service and Advocacy: Matters of Faith?

Service and Advocacy: Matters of Faith?

TLC Fingerprinting and Pattern Recognition Methods in the Assessment of Authenticity of Poplar-Type Propolis.

Propolis is a "natural" remedy with prominent biological activity, which is used as dietary supplement. In the absence of clinical studies that would substantiate these claims, information on the biological activity of propolis is valuable. This study comprises chromatographic, image processing and chemometric approach for phenolic profiling of Serbian, Croatian and Slovenian propolis test solutions. Modern thin-layer chromatography equipment in combination with software for image processing was applied for fingerprinting and data acquisition, whereas the principal component analysis was used as pattern recognition method. Characterization of phenolic profile was performed along with the determination of the botanical and geographical origin of propolis. High-performance thin-layer chromatograms reveal that Central and Southeastern European propolis samples are rich in flavonoids. In addition, phenolic compounds proved to be suitable markers for the determination of European propolis authenticity.

Application of Electronic Nose Based on Fast GC for Authenticity Assessment of Polish Homemade Liqueurs Called Nalewka

The possibility of application of electronic nose based on fast GC for differentiation of three types of cherry liqueurs, namely Polish homemade liqueurs called nalewka, commercially available liqueurs labeled as nalewka, and commercial liqueurs, was investigated. This device was equipped with two parallel connected columns with different stationary phases coupled to two ultrasensitive flame ionization detectors (μ-FIDs). Four data analysis methods were used, namely principal component analysis (PCA), discriminant function analysis (DFA), soft independent modeling of class analogies (SIMCA), and statistical quality control (SQC). Application of electronic nose based on fast GC system allows identification of volatile organic compounds and compare aroma profiles of all three types of cherry liqueurs. Only DFA allows for full discrimination of all groups of samples. Application of PCA, SIMCA, and SQC analysis allows only for the differentiation of homemade and commercial liqueurs, but not for separation between two groups of commercial liqueurs. The electronic nose based on fast GC provides a possibility of effective and rapid aroma profile comparison (the total time of analysis is 93 s) of selected alcohols. In addition, the identification and tentative semiqualitative comparison of the amount of selected compounds of the volatile fraction of these beverages using the HS-SPME/GC×GC-TOFMS technique were done. This work presents the proposal of protection of this traditional product through elaborated methodology and rapid authentication assessment of Polish nalewka made from cherries.

DSC coupled with PCA as a tool for butter authenticity assessment

The authenticity assessment of butter is still a big challenge for analytics. Due to its low cost, palm oil (PO) is the edible fat most frequently used as an adulterant in the production of butter. The aim of this study was to test the feasibility of the DSC technique coupled with principal component analysis (PCA) for the distinction of pure butterfat from adulterated. A differential scanning calorimeter DSC 7 from Perkin-Elmer was used for the examination of crystallization and melting properties of pure butterfat and its mixtures with PO (2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 % w/w). The addition of PO affects the thermodynamic parameters of the crystallization and melting of butter, which modifies the position and area of phase transition peaks. A large dataset concerning DSC cooling and heating parameters such as temperatures, enthalpies and peak heights was obtained. Processing of data was supported by the PCA method, which proved its applicability for differentiation between genuine and adulterated fat. Statistical analysis revealed that the best separation of samples with different palm oil concentration was achieved using DSC melting parameters of enthalpies and peak heights of low and medium melting fractions. PCA of crystallization parameters did not give such distinct separation. The results of this study confirmed that the DSC technique coupled with PCA can be successfully applied to detect with high sensitivity (from 2 %) the adulterant in butter.

A new algorithm for identity verification based on the analysis of a handwritten dynamic signature

Identity verification based on authenticity assessment of a handwritten signature is an important issue in biometrics. There are many effective methods for signature verification taking into account dynamics of a signing process. Methods based on partitioning take a very important place among them. In this paper we propose a new approach to signature partitioning. Its most important feature is the possibility of selecting and processing of hybrid partitions in order to increase a precision of the test signature analysis. Partitions are formed by a combination of vertical and horizontal sections of the signature. Vertical sections correspond to the initial, middle, and final time moments of the signing process. In turn, horizontal sections correspond to the signature areas associated with high and low pen velocity and high and low pen pressure on the surface of a graphics tablet. Our previous research on vertical and horizontal sections of the dynamic signature (created independently) led us to develop the algorithm presented in this paper. Selection of sections, among others, allows us to define the stability of the signing process in the partitions, promoting signature areas of greater stability (and vice versa). In the test of the proposed method two databases were used: public MCYT-100 and paid BioSecure.

Anthocyanin analyses of Vaccinium fruit dietary supplements.

Vaccinium fruit ingredients within dietary supplements were identified by comparisons with anthocyanin analyses of known Vaccinium profiles (demonstration of anthocyanin fingerprinting). Available Vaccinium supplements were purchased and analyzed, their anthocyanin profiles (based on high‐performance liquid chromatography [HPLC] separation) indicated if products' fruit origin listings were authentic. Over 30% of the Vaccinium fruit (cranberry, lingonberry, bilberry, and blueberry; 14 of 45) products available as dietary supplements did not contain the fruit listed as ingredients. Six supplements contained no anthocyanins. Five others had contents differing from labeled fruit (e.g., bilberry capsules containing Andean blueberry fruit). Of the samples that did contain the specified fruit (n = 27), anthocyanin content ranged from 0.04 to 14.37 mg per capsule, tablet, or teaspoon (5 g). Approaches to utilizing anthocyanins in assessment of sample authenticity, and a discussion of the challenges with anthocyanin profiles in quality control are both presented.

Infrared Spectroscopic Study Dihydroquercetin and its New Substances with Benzoyl Chloride

The study acylation reactions of dihydroquercetin apart from scientific interest has practical value. As a result of the reactions will form new organic compounds which may possess potential antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and cytotoxic activity [1]. Within this research studying of processes of acylation of a dihydroquercetin with use of benzoyl chloride and definition of chemical structure of new medicinal substances, as homogeneous samples of high degree of purity was the important and interesting point. One of the promising methods of studying the structure of drug substances is the method of IR spectroscopy. The method gives the chance to make an objective assessment of authenticity that allows to use actively it in the pharmaceutical analysis of many unknown connections [2-4]. It predetermined conduct of the compulsory registration of IR spectra for the original dihydroquercetin and synthesized on its basis of new substances with benzoyl chloride.

Authenticity Assessment of Extra Virgin Olive Oil: Evaluation of Desmethylsterols and Triterpene Dialcohols

AbstractExtra virgin olive oil (EVOO) has a long history of economic adulteration, the detection of which presents significant challenges due to the diverse composition of cultivars grown around the world and the limitations of existing methods for detecting adulteration. In this study, using Method COI/T.20/Doc. No. 30/Rev. 1 of the International Olive Council, the authenticity of 88 market samples of EVOO was evaluated by comparing total sterol contents, desmethylsterol composition, and contents of triterpene dialcohols (erythrodiol and uvaol) with purity criteria specified in the United States Standards for grades of olive oil and olive‐pomace oil. Three of the 88 samples labeled as EVOO failed to meet purity criteria, indicating possible adulteration with commodity oil and/or solvent‐extracted olive oil. Detection of adulteration was also evaluated by spiking an EVOO sample with commodity oil at the 10 % level. As expected, eight of the spiked samples (canola, corn, hazelnut, peanut, safflower, soybean, and sunflower oils, and palm olein) failed to meet purity criteria. Two of the three samples spiked with 10 % hazelnut oil went undetected for adulteration. Overall, a low occurrence rate of adulteration (<5 %), based on purity criteria for desmethylsterols and triterpene dialcohols, was detected for the 88 products labeled as EVOO.

Modern analytical techniques in the assessment of the authenticity of Serbian honey.

Food authenticity in a broader sense means fulfilling chemical and physical criteria prescribed by the proposed legislation. In the case of honey authenticity, two aspects are of major concern: the manufacturing process and the labelling of final products in terms of their geographical and botanical origin. A reliable assessment of honey authenticity has been a longterm preoccupation of chemists-analysts and it usually involves the use of several criteria and chemical markers, as well as a combination of analytical and statistical (chemometric) methods. This paper provides an overview of different criteria and modern methods for the assessment of honey authenticity in the case of a statistically significant number of authentic honey samples of several botanical types from various regions of Serbia.

Verifying the red wines adulteration through isotopic and chromatographic investigations coupled with multivariate statistic interpretation of the data

The assessment of wine traceability and authenticity is a major concern that has gained a lot of interest internationally since the wine has always been subjected to various fraudulent practices. Practiced since ancient times, wine fraud has become more sophisticated in the present day, taking many forms. Consumers, regulatory bodies and manufacturers are all interested to have reliable analytical tools and information to allow the authentication and detection of wine adulteration or incorrect labelling. This research study evaluates and proposes a possible strategy for the detection of adulterated sweet or medium sweet red table wines using appropriate chemical parameters which can reveal prohibited practices in the winemaking process. The work is performed on 29 table wine samples, bought from the market, packed in PET bottles. Exogenous addition of sugar and water in the counterfeited table red wines was detected by the measurement of stable isotopes content (δ13C and δ18O) known as origin markers and supplementary confirmed by other classical parameters, as the alcoholic strength of the wines (‰ vol.) and the presence of 5-(hydroxymethyl)-2-furaldehyde (HMF) and of synthetic sweeteners or synthetic red dyes used to correct deficiencies of taste and colour. Additionally, the nature and profile of anthocyanins, as indicator of the red colour of wine, was investigated in the table wines and then compared with that of authentic wines obtained by microvinification of Vitis vinifera, in order to determine their authenticity.

Identification of chemical markers in Cordyceps sinensis by HPLC-MS/MS.

Authentication and quality assessment of Cordyceps sinensis, a precious and pricey natural product that offers a variety of health benefits, is highly significant. To identify effective chemical markers, authentic C. sinensis was thoroughly screened by using HPLC-MS/MS. In addition to many previously reported ingredients, two glycosides, i.e., cyclo-Ala-Leu-rhamnose and Phe-o-glucose, were detected for the first time in this material. Six ingredients detected, including cordycepin, D-mannitol, Phe, Phe-o-glucose, cyclo-Gly-Pro, and cyclo-Ala-Leu-rhamnose, were selected as a collection of chemical markers. An HPLC-MS/MS method was developed to simultaneously quantify them with sensitivity and specificity. The method had limits of detection ranging from 0.008μgmL(-1) for cordycepin to 0.75μgmL(-1) for cyclo-Gly-Pro. Recovery was found between 96 and 103% in all tests. To evaluate the effectiveness of the marker collection proposed, five authentic C. sinensis samples and five samples of its substitutes were analyzed. Cordycepin, D-mannitol, and Phe were found present in all samples. The contents ranged from 0.0076 to 0.029% (w/w) for cordycepin, 0.33 to 18.9% for mannitol, and 0.0013 to 0.642% for Phe. Interestingly, the two glycosides, Phe-o-glucose and cyclo-Ala-Leu-rhamnose, were detected only in authentic C. sinensis samples. These results indicated that the proposed protocol based on HPLC-MS/MS quantification of the markers might have a great potential in authentication and quality assessment of C. sinensis. Graphical abstract Chemical markers of C. sinensis identified in this work.

Assessment of meat authenticity using bioinformatics, targeted peptide biomarkers and high-resolution mass spectrometry

In recent years a significant increase of food fraud has been observed, ranging from false label claims to the use of additives and fillers to increase profitability. Recently in 2013 horse and pig DNAs were detected in beef products sold from several retailers. Mass spectrometry (MS) has become the workhorse in protein research, and the detection of marker proteins could serve for both animal species and tissue authentication. Meat species authenticity is performed in this paper using a well-defined proteogenomic annotation, carefully chosen surrogate tryptic peptides and analysis using a hybrid quadrupole-Orbitrap MS. Selected mammalian meat samples were homogenised and proteins were extracted and digested with trypsin. The samples were analysed using a high-resolution MS. Chromatography was achieved using a 30-min linear gradient along with a BioBasic C8 100 × 1 mm column at a flow rate of 75 µl min–1. The MS was operated in full-scan high resolution and accurate mass. MS/MS spectra were collected for selected proteotypic peptides. Muscular proteins were methodically analysed in silico in order to generate tryptic peptide mass lists and theoretical MS/MS spectra. Following a comprehensive bottom-up proteomic analysis, we detected and identified a proteotypic myoglobin tryptic peptide (120–134) for each species with observed m/z below 1.3 ppm compared with theoretical values. Moreover, proteotypic peptides from myosin-1, myosin-2 and β-haemoglobin were also identified. This targeted method allowed comprehensive meat speciation down to 1% (w/w) of undesired product.

Species identification in fish fillet products using DNA barcoding

Considering that seafood mislabeling has been widely reported throughout the world and that the authentication of food components is one of the key issues in food safety, quality and sustainability, the aim of this study was to use DNA barcoding to investigate the prevalence of mislabeling among fish fillet products from markets and supermarkets located in Apulia (SE Italy). The study reveals a high degree of species mislabeling in fish fillet products. In particular, this study shows that the labels of only 32/200 fish fillet samples provided comprehensive information relating to commercial designation, scientific name, geographical area, production method and whether previously frozen. The labeling of other samples was not compliant with European legislation. Indeed, the scientific name, which must also be indicated from 1st January 2012, according to Article 68 of EU Commission Implementing Regulation No. 404/2011, was missing in 157/168 samples, the geographical area was missing in 152/168, while the commercial designation and the production method were reported in all samples. Furthermore, results from molecular investigations reveal a high occurrence of incorrect species declaration in fish fillet products. The commercial and/or scientific name declared failed to match the species identified in 164/200 (82%) samples. The study also highlighted that threatened, Vulnerable (VU), Endangered (EN) and Critically Endangered (CR) species considered to be facing a high risk of extinction has been used in the place of commercial species. This study thus provides further evidence of the need for increased traceability and assessment of food product authenticity. Additionally, traceability may improve the management of hazards related to fish safety, as well as guaranteeing product authenticity, providing reliable information to customers, enhancing supply-side management and improving product quality and sustainability.

Enantiomeric distribution of selected terpenes for authenticity assessment of Australian Melaleucaalternifolia oil

The growing awareness of a mounting trend toward adulteration of essential oil products has resulted in considerable interest among producer and consumer industries to develop suitable and cost-effective methods for authenticity control. In response to this trend, this study reports authenticity assessment of Australian tea tree oil (TTO) by means of stereospecific analysis of designated chiral monoterpenes present within the oil. Enantioselective gas chromatography (eGC) coupled with either flame ionization detection or mass spectrometry was used to determine the enantiomeric distribution of terpinen-4-ol and α-terpineol, both key chemical markers in TTO. Consistent enantiomeric ratios of 68.5±0.2% (+): 31.5±0.2% (–) for terpinen-4-ol and 74.2±1.4% (+): 25.8±1.4% (–) for α-terpineol were observed for the 57 authentic 100% pure Australian TTOs analyzed, which were sourced directly from different plantation sites throughout Australia. On the other hand, considerable variations from these ratios were observed for a number of commercial TTOs sampled from different continents, with 50% of the samples varying markedly from the ∼68.5% value found for (+) terpinen-4-ol. Robustness of the method and reliability of the attained results were evaluated by cross-checking data derived from the two independent analyses performed in this study. To the best of our knowledge, this work encapsulates the most comprehensive dataset currently available for the enantiomeric distribution of terpinen-4-ol and α-terpineol in pure Australian TTO, and which can serve as an important reference for detection of variation in commercially-sourced samples, and be a potential indicator of adulteration. Additionally, results of this study proved the considerable potential of using chiral compositions of terpinen-4-ol and α-terpineol as chiral signatures for authenticity assessment of TTO.

Authenticity in Constructivist Inquiry: Assessing an Elusive Construct

Methodological rigor in constructivist inquiry is established through an assessment of trustworthiness and authenticity. Trustworthiness parallels the positivistic concepts of internal and external validity, focusing on an assessment of the inquiry process. Authenticity, however, is unique to constructivist inquiry and has no parallel in the positivistic paradigm. Authenticity involves an assessment of the meaningfulness and usefulness of interactive inquiry processes and social change that results from these processes. However, the techniques for ascertaining authenticity are in the early stages of development. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to describe a process for assessing authenticity in a constructivist inquiry. A brief overview of constructivist inquiries are described in relation to a set of techniques designed specifically to assess five dimensions of authenticity. Implications for constructivist researchers and social work research are presented.

Characterization of the Geographical and Varietal Origin of Wheat and Bread by Means of Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) Methods and Chemometrics: A Review

In recent years, food authentication, in terms of geographical and varietal/animal origins, is considered of primary importance at all levels of the production process. Therefore, it is clear that there is an economic basis to develop analytical methods able to certify the declared origin of food products, in order to protect consumers and honest producers from fraud and unfair competition, respectively; consequently, during recent years, several food authentication techniques have been proposed. This review attempted to present in a critical way the contribution of High Resolution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (HR-NMR) and Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) techniques in the assessment of quality and authenticity, mainly in terms of characterization of geographical and varietal origin, of wheat and wheat products, focusing on the most important studies to this direction.