Elemental and Isotopic Fingerprints of Potatoes

Nowadays, food traceability represents an important issue in the current context of trade agreements, which influence global food prices. Many consumers prefer to pay a higher price for a traditional cultivation regime of a certain food product that comes from a certain region, appreciating the taste of the respective foodstuff. The potato is now the world's fourth most important food crop in terms of human consumption, after wheat, maize, and rice. In this context, 100 potato samples from the Romanian market were collected. While 68 samples came from Romania, the rest of the 32 were from abroad (Hungary, France, Greece, Italy, Germany, Egypt, and Poland). The countries selected for potato sample analysis are among the main exporters of potatoes to the Romanian market. The samples were investigated by their multi-elemental and isotopic (²H, ¹⁸O and ¹³C) fingerprints, using Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) and Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS). Then, to distinguish the geographical origin, the experimental results were statistically processed using linear discriminant analysis (LDA). The best markers that emphasize Romanian potatoes were identified to be δ¹³C_bulk, δ²H_water, and Sr.