Origin Authentication of Pork Fat via Elemental Composition, Isotope Ratios, and Multivariate Chemometric Analyses

Abstract

Globalization has resulted in the availability of food products from other countries, and therefore today consumers are concerned to know the origin of their food. Efficient analytical techniques are required to guarantee accurate labeling and the authentication of the food origin. This study was designed to analyze pork belly fat from USA, Spain, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Chile and South Korea for elemental composition and isotope ratios and multivariate chemometric analyses were employed to authenticate the geographical origins of the samples. The concentrations of macroelements were in the order of potassium > phosphorus > sodium > sulfur > calcium > aluminum > zinc > iron while the trace elements were below the safe limits. The isotope ratios for ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁴Sr, ⁵²Cr/⁵⁰Cr, and ⁷¹Ga/⁶⁹Ga were comparatively high. Linear discriminant analysis and principal component analysis distinguished the samples to 98.2%. Lithium, strontium, arsenic, chromium, vanadium, manganese, nickel, and cadmium were considered to be adequate descriptors for pork origin authentication.

Keywords:

• Elemental composition
• isotope ratios
• linear discriminant analysis
• origin authentication
• principal component analysis
• pork fat

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This research was supported by the Korea Institute of Planning and Evaluation for Technology (IPET) in Food, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries through Agri-Bioindustry Technology Development Program funded by Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (114073-3).