title: Precise determination of strontium isotope ratios by TIMS to authenticate tomato geographical origin.
abstract: Thermal Ionisation Mass Spectrometry (TIMS) was applied to discriminate a total of 118 tomato samples (berries, "passata", tinned tomatoes, sauce, double and triple concentrate) coming from two different countries. The TIMS technique gave significantly different results for the (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratios and δ‰ values between Chinese and Italian tomato samples, irrespective of the treatment type. This technique proved to be a "robust" method, suitable for a precise discrimination of the two geographical origins. TIMS was able, within the Italian samples, to discriminate different geographical production areas, by virtue of different (87)Sr/(86)Sr ratios and δ‰ values. This technique could be employed in the field of food safety and quality, as a profitable tool for authenticating tomato geographical origin.
authors.affiliation: LIMS (Laboratory for Isotope Mass Spectrometry), "L. Cobianchi", Piazza Martiri di Trarego 8, 28921 Verbania, Italy. Electronic address: pierre.trincherini@gmail.com.
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Trincherini
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Baffi
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barbero
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pizzoglio
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spalla
mesh_terms: D005843:Geography; D018551:Solanum lycopersicum / Q000737:chemistry*; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D013325:Strontium Isotopes / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D013325:Strontium Isotopes
keywords: Food authentication; Fraud; Geographical origin; Strontium isotopic composition; TIMS; Tomato