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This study (open access) used Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) ratios of key signals to differentiate the origin of Peppermint Essential Oil (PEO) as well as for the identification of adulterants in commercial PEO samples. Comprehensive analyses of 1D and 2D NMR spectra allowed for the identification of characteristic ¹H NMR signals associated with the key components of PEO.  Signals were assigned for 12 key components.  Significant compositional variations between PEOs from different geographical origins were revealed.

The US and India are the two primary production regions for PEO.  The model was built from authentic PEO samples of US origin (18),  India origin (15), twenty-seven blended PEO (US/India) samples and five de-mentholized cornmint (Mentha arvensis) oils.  All reference samples were collected by the National Center for Natural Products Research (NCNPR), University of Mississippi.

To facilitate differentiation, a straightforward indicator ratio method was developed to distinguish between PEOs from the United States and India.

A total of 50 commercial PEO samples were evaluated using the indicator model.  These included forty-three samples claiming to be pure PEO and seven claiming to be premium or therapeutic grade PEO.  They were purchased from various domestic and international suppliers of the US market

Results indicated a high adulteration rate (42 %). Adulterants, including synthetic chemicals, de-mentholized cornmint oil, and lower-cost oils, were identified.

The authors conclude that NMR is a useful tool for quality assessment and authenticity testing of essential oils. The methodology presented may also be extended to other essential oils to ensure product integrity.

For an explanation of the principles of NMR see FAN's introductory guide.

Photo by Anna Hliamshyna 💙💛 on Unsplash

In this study (open access), researchers set out to discriminate Royal Gala and Golden Delicious apples as being either Czech or Polish origin.  They built a reference database of 64 samples were collected in the years 2020–2022 from Central Bohemia  Eastern Bohemia, South Moravia, Lower Silesian Voivodeship, Łódź Voivodeship, and Masovian Voivodeship.  They measured phosphorus (P), potassium (K), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), boron (B), zinc (Zn), manganese (Mn), and iron (Fe) as well as isotope ratios ¹⁰B/¹¹B and  ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr.

They concluded that, with this data set, it was not possible to robustly differentiate Czech vs Polish origin.  The variation within individual regions, and the variation due to different agricultural inputs, was too significant compared to the variation between countries.  They concluded that differentiation would be possible in principle but a much more granular reference database would be needed.  Their findings contradicted previous published work that phosphorus was a suitable marker to differentiate Czech from Polish apples.

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez 🇨🇦 on Unsplash

Animal origin food products, including fish and seafood, meat and poultry, milk and dairy foods, and other related products play significant roles in human nutrition. However, fraud in this food sector frequently occurs, leading to negative economic impacts on consumers and potential risks to public health and the environment. Therefore, the development of analytical techniques that can rapidly detect fraud and verify the authenticity of such products is of paramount importance.

Traditionally, a wide variety of targeted approaches, such as chemical, chromatographic, molecular, and protein-based techniques, among others, have been frequently used to identify animal species, production methods, provenance, and processing of food products. Although these conventional methods are accurate and reliable, they are destructive, time-consuming, and can only be employed at the laboratory scale. On the contrary, alternative methods based mainly on spectroscopy have emerged in recent years as invaluable tools to overcome most of the limitations associated with
traditional measurements. The number of scientific studies reporting on various authenticity issues investigated by vibrational spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance, and fluorescence spectroscopy has increased substantially over the past few years, indicating the tremendous potential of these techniques in the fight against food fraud.

This manuscript reviews the state-of-the-art research advances since 2015 regarding the use of analytical methods applied to detect fraud in food products of animal origin, with particular attention paid to spectroscopic measurements coupled with chemometric analysis. The opportunities and challenges surrounding the use of spectroscopic techniques and possible future directions are also be discussed.

Read full paper here.