Use of Lead Isotopic Ratios as Geographical Tracer for Lambrusco PDO Wines.

In this study, the lead isotope signature was tested with the aim to verify its potential as geographic tracer for wine production and particularly for the Lambrusco PDO wines of the province of Modena (Italy). A solid phase extraction procedure, for separating lead from the investigated matrices, soil and wine, was optimized. Furthermore, different mathematical models, based on an exponential law and internal or external correction approach, were evaluated for the correction of instrumental mass dependent fractionation. The optimized analytical procedure yielded isotopic ratio data relative to the lead NIST 981 standard, 208Pb/206Pb = 2.16664 and 207Pb/206Pb = 0.914645, in good agreement both with the tabulated values and with the most recent literature data. Measured isotope ratio data highlight the contribute of multiple lead sources in bottled wine but different from the one present in soils.

Tracing geographical origin of Lambrusco PDO wines using isotope ratios of oxygen, boron, strontium, lead and their elemental concentration.

Wine identification is one of the most important aspects in the classification of wines and consumer protection. In particular, assuring wine authenticity is a crucial issue on which researchers are focusing on. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of using chemical (B, Pb and Sr concentration) and isotopic compositions (δ11B, 20yPb/20xPb, 87Sr/86Sr and δ18O) of wine samples to trace their geographic origins. Different PDO Lambrusco wines coming from a confined area of northern Italy were analyzed and all the isotopic systematics were monitored by using a multi collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (MC-ICP/MS). The obtained results showed that boron isotope ratio measurements led to a satisfactory degree of accuracy and precision (measured value, n = 28, 11B/10B of NIST SRM 951a equal to 4.04343 ± 0.00178, (u = 2s) with a certified value of 4.04362 ± 0.00136 (u = 2s). Furthermore, in the present study, it has been possible to highlight significant differences among samples by means of one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc Tukey-Kramer test. Finally, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was also carried out in order to evaluate to which extent the different PDOs can be distinguished from each other, taking into account the whole set of geographical origin descriptors. Although δ11B provided more sensitive information, the obtained results highlighted the important to consider the synergistic combination of all the investigated parameters to trace the different samples and the need to combine the obtained values with the same parameters evaluated in the soil, water and fertilizer as well.

Development of 87Sr/86Sr maps as targeted strategy to support wine quality.

This study summarizes the results obtained from a systematic and long-term project aimed at the development of tools to assess the provenance of food in the oenological sector. In particular, 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios were measured on statistically representative set of soils, vine branches and wines sampled in the production district of Modena, worldwide known for the Lambrusco wines production. The obtained data were used to build strontium isotopic maps able to objectively support the Lambrusco PDO wines origin as well as other products of the Modena district. Finally, a strong relationship was found between the 87Sr/86Sr isotope ratios of soils and vine branches on a large scale, highlighting and confirming once more the idea that plants can also represent an optimal sampling device to support geographical traceability.

Evaluation of the oxidation state and metal concentration in the adipose tissue of Parma ham.

The effect of different dietary fat supplements: A, no added fat; B, 3% added lard and C, 3% added partially hydrogenated lard (PHL), were evaluated in dry cured Parma ham fat by determination of the lipid oxidation indices, R1 and R2, on a total of 30 Italian Landrace×Italian Large White pigs. Furthermore, correlations between lipid oxidation and calcium, magnesium, iron, zinc, copper and nickel concentrations, determined in Parma ham fat, was also investigated. Results highlighted a correlation between the oxidative state of Parma ham fat and the pigs' diet; in particular the addition of 3% PHL led to a more stable depot fat towards lipid oxidation compared to the addition of lard. Finally, Parma ham fat from treatment C showed higher concentrations of Ca (p<0.01) and Mg (p<0.05) compared to those from control, A, and treatment B groups. On the contrary, no significant differences were found for Fe, Zn, Cu and Ni.

Induction of hypericins in Hypericum perforatum in response to chromium.

Seedlings of Hypericum perforatum were grown with 0.01 and 0.1 mM of chromium added to the nutrient media. A treatment with 0.01 mM Cr(VI) for seven days resulted in an increased production of protopseudohypericin (+135%), hypericin (+38%) and pseudohypericin (+5%). Treatment with 0.1 mM Cr(VI) for two days also caused an increase of protopseudohypericin (+167%), hypericin (25%) and pseudohypericin (+5%). The greatest effect of chromium treatment was observed at a concentration of 0.1 mM for seven days: protopseudohypericin increased +404% and pseudohypericin to +379%. Hypericin was not affected by this treatment.

Determination of metal concentration in fat supplements for swine nutrition by atomic absorption spectroscopy.

The presence of some essential and toxic metals in fat supplements for swine diet was investigated. Collected samples represented a relevant production of the Italian industry. In particular, some samples were enriched with antioxidants or waste cooking oils. The method for the determination of Ca, Cu, Cd, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn in fat samples was developed by means of a certified reference material (CRM 186) and a representative fatty sample (RFS). All samples were digested in closed vessels in a microwave oven and then analyzed by flame atomic absorption or graphite furnace atomic absorption spectrometry. The entire analytical method provided a satisfactory repeatability and reproducibility confirmed by agreement between the experimental recovery data obtained for the CRM 186 sample and, with the method of standard additions, for the RFS material. The samples generally showed a small amount of metals compared with the recommended daily intake for the essential elements. On the other hand, some samples contained a significant concentration, from an analytical point of view, of Cd, Ni, and Pb. Principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to inspect the experimental data obtained from samples analysis. Basically no differences were detected in terms of metal concentration among the fat supplements analyzed.

Use of multivariate analysis of MIR spectra to study bread staling.

Different kinds of bread, stored at constant temperature and at controlled humidity conditions for a week since their manufacturing date, were analysed by Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform InfraRed (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy. The collected spectra were processed by Principal Component Analysis (PCA), in order to evaluate the changes occurring during bread ageing. For the sake of comparison, the 1060-950 cm spectral window has been also investigated by curve-fitting methods. It was observed that the first PC increases monotonically with ageing of samples. Furthermore, the more influential variables on PC1 correspond to spectral regions where are located stretching and bending bands, which are mainly attributed to typical starch bonds vibrations.

An analytical approach to Sr isotope ratio determination in Lambrusco wines for geographical traceability purposes.

Geographical origin and authenticity of food are topics of interest for both consumers and producers. Among the different indicators used for traceability studies, (87)Sr/(86)Sr isotopic ratio has provided excellent results. In this study, two analytical approaches for wine sample pre-treatment, microwave and low temperature mineralisation, were investigated to develop accurate and precise analytical method for (87)Sr/(86)Sr determination. The two procedures led to comparable results (paired t-test, with t

Geographical traceability based on 87Sr/86Sr indicator: a first approach for PDO Lambrusco wines from Modena.

The main goal of this study was to evaluate (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratio in different matrices, namely soils, branches, and grape juices, of an oenological food chain in order to develop a robust analytical strategy able to link the investigated food to its territory of origin. The (87)Sr/(86)Sr has been used as traceability marker and several aspects, affected its variability, i.e. geological features of the investigated area, the bio-available fraction of elements in the soils and the up-take of the plant, have been taken into account. Optimisation of an analytical procedure for the separation of Sr from its interferences and investigation of the analytical performances in terms of precision of used methodology have been carried out as well. This work highlighted a good match between the isotopic values monitored in the bio-available fraction of soils and their respective grape juices for almost all the investigated areas. The correlation with food satisfyingly improves when isotopic relative abundance values of branches vine are considered.

Use of X-ray diffraction technique and chemometrics to aid soil sampling strategies in traceability studies.

Aim of this work is to assess the potentialities of the X-ray powder diffraction technique as fingerprinting technique, i.e. as a preliminary tool to assess soil samples variability, in terms of geochemical features, in the context of food geographical traceability. A correct approach to sampling procedure is always a critical issue in scientific investigation. In particular, in food geographical traceability studies, where the cause-effect relations between the soil of origin and the final foodstuff is sought, a representative sampling of the territory under investigation is certainly an imperative. This research concerns a pilot study to investigate the field homogeneity with respect to both field extension and sampling depth, taking also into account the seasonal variability. Four Lambrusco production sites of the Modena district were considered. The X-Ray diffraction spectra, collected on the powder of each soil sample, were treated as fingerprint profiles to be deciphered by multivariate and multi-way data analysis, namely PCA and PARAFAC. The differentiation pattern observed in soil samples, as obtained by this fast and non-destructive analytical approach, well matches with the results obtained by characterization with other costly analytical techniques, such as ICP/MS, GFAAS, FAAS, etc. Thus, the proposed approach furnishes a rational basis to reduce the number of soil samples to be collected for further analytical characterization, i.e. metals content, isotopic ratio of radiogenic element, etc., while maintaining an exhaustive description of the investigated production areas.

Optimization of a Dynamic Headspace-Thermal Desorption-Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry procedure for the determination of furfurals in vinegars.

The use of a Dynamic Headspace System (DHS) device combined with a Thermal Desorption Unit (TDU) interfaced to a Gas Chromatography/Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) system is proposed for the determination of furfurals in oenological products. An experimental design protocol has been employed for the optimization of the instrumental settings concerning DHS and TDU extraction and desorption steps. It has been possible to individuate the following optimized conditions: incubation temperature 40°C, purge volume 800 mL, dry volume 1500 mL, TDU hold time 5 min and incubation time 10 min. The performance of two different SPE sorbents, namely Tenax TA and Tenax GR used for the furfurals trapping, was investigated too. The developed DHS sampling procedure showed good reproducibility values with a RSD% lower than 10% for all the monitored species. The optimized experimental settings have been used to determine furfurals in several vinegar samples obtained by traditional procedure starting from cooked grape musts, i.e. in Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena (ABTM). In fact, the control of these species is extremely important for quality and safety issues.

Changes in the chemical composition of reduced cooked musts during the heating process.

Cooked must is the starting raw material in Aceto Balsamico Tradizionale di Modena (ABTM) production, and the cooking process is a crucial step to ensure quality and safety standards. In particular, the furfural content has to be strictly monitored. In this study, we followed, directly at the production plant, nine cooking processes, differing for grape type and process conditions in order to monitor the actual variability in cooked must reduction. 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) and furfural contents were determined by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technique and glucose, fructose, and tartaric and malic acids by gas chromatography (GC) technique. Furthermore, some bulk properties, such as the water content, refractive index, density, and total acidity, were also measured. The obtained results show that the product undergoes, in the worse operating conditions, remarkable degradation, leading to extremely high levels of furfurals (5-HMF and furfural), corresponding to a water content lower than 40%. On the basis of these results, a first draft of an optimal heating protocol may be suggested in order to guarantee the safety and quality of the final product.