Stable carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotope analysis as a potential tool for verifying geographical origin of beef.
Stable isotope analysis of organic elements such as carbon and nitrogen has been employed as a powerful tool for provenance determination of food materials, because isotopic compositions of the materials reflect many factors in natural environment. In this study, we examined carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotope signatures of beef from Australia, Japan, and USA, in order to confirm the method as a potential tool for verifying geographical origin of beef commercially distributed in Japan. Defatted dry matter of beef from USA was characterized by higher carbon isotopic composition (-13.6 per thousand to -11.1 per thousand) than that from Japan (-19.6 per thousand to -17.0 per thousand) and Australia (-23.6 per thousand to -18.7 per thousand). That from Australia was characterized by higher oxygen isotopic composition (+15.0 per thousand to +19.4 per thousand) than that from Japan (+7.3 per thousand to +13.6 per thousand) and USA (+9.5 per thousand to +11.7 per thousand). The oxygen isotopic composition in Japanese beef showed a positive correlation with the isotopic composition of cattle drinking water, the difference in which is clearly latitude dependent. These results suggest that a comparison of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen isotopic compositions is applicable as a potential tool to discriminate the provenance of beef not only between different countries (i.e. Australia, Japan, and USA) but also among different regions within Japan.
Nakashita
Rumiko
R
Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Tokyo Metropolitan University, 1-1 Minami Osawa, Hachioji, Tokyo 192-0397, Japan. nakasita@tmu.ac.jp
Suzuki
Yaeko
Y
Akamatsu
Fumikazu
F
Iizumi
Yoshiko
Y
Korenaga
Takashi
T
Chikaraishi
Yoshito
Y
D000818:Animals; D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D002417:Cattle; D005504:Food Analysis / Q000379:methods*; D007564:Japan; D008460:Meat / Q000032:analysis*; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes; D010103:Oxygen Isotopes
D002247:Carbon Isotopes; D009587:Nitrogen Isotopes; D010103:Oxygen Isotopes