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Published on: August 15, 2018
Authenticating teas using multielement signatures, strontium isotope ratios, and volatile compound profiling
Marine Reyrolle1, Gilles Bareille1, Ekaterina N Epova2
1Universite de Pau et des Pays de l'Adour, E2S UPPA, CNRS, IMT Mines Ales, IPREM, Pau, France; Institut des sciences analytiques et de Physicochimie pour l'environnement et les Matériaux, UMR5254, Hélioparc, 2 avenue du Président Angot, 64053, Pau cedex 9, France.
Abstract:
High value food products are subject to adulterations and frauds. This study aimed to combine, in our knowledge for the first time, inorganic chemical tracers (multi-elements and Sr isotopy) with volatile organic compound (VOCs) to discriminate the geographic origin, the varieties and transformation processes to authenticate 26 tea samples. By measuring Sr isotope ratio using the multi-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (MC-ICP-MS), 6 out of 11 regions were successfully discriminated. The combination with the ICP-MS inorganic pattern allowed to discriminate 4 more regions with a significance level of 0.05. VOCs fingerprints, obtained with selected ion flow tube mass spectrometer (SIFT-MS), were not correlated with origin but with the cultivar and transformation processes. Green, oolong, and dark teas were clearly differentiated, with hexanal and hexanol contributing to the discrimination of oxidation levels. With this multi-instrumental approach, it is possible to certify the geographical origin and the tea conformity.
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