title: Analysis of the mineral composition of Italian saffron by ICP-MS and classification of geographical origin.
abstract: 27 Saffron spices produced in three Italian regions, Abruzzo (L'Aquila), Umbria and Sardinia, were analysed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry to test potentiality of mineral composition for geographical traceability. A linear discriminant analysis (LDA) based on concentrations of 12 selected elements, Li, B, Na, Ga, Rb, Sr, Zr, Nb, Cs, Ba, Sm, and Hf, allows more than 80% of correct predictions in leave-one cross-validation. Four elements (B, Na, Sr and Rb), identified by step-wise LDA, provide more than 90% of correct predictions. Moreover, saffron spices cultivated in Sardinia and Central Italy can be distinguished under more severe validation conditions (20% of samples in the prediction set). In summary, mineral composition results a promising indicator of saffron geographical origin.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche e Chimiche, Università degli Studi dell'Aquila, Via Vetoio, 67100 Coppito, L'Aquila, Italy. Electronic address: angeloantonio.darchivio@univaq.it.
authors.forename: Angelo Antonio
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: D'Archivio
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Fisiche e Chimiche, Università degli Studi dell'Aquila, Via Vetoio, 67100 Coppito, L'Aquila, Italy.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giannitto
authors.affiliation: Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Laboratorio Nazionale del Gran Sasso, S.S. 17/bis km 18+910, 67010 Assergi, L'Aquila, Italy.
authors.forename: Angela
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Incani
authors.affiliation: Istituto Nazionale di Fisica Nucleare, Laboratorio Nazionale del Gran Sasso, S.S. 17/bis km 18+910, 67010 Assergi, L'Aquila, Italy.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nisi
mesh_terms: D027622:Crocus / Q000737:chemistry*; D005843:Geography; D007558:Italy; D013058:Mass Spectrometry / Q000379:methods*; D015999:Multivariate Analysis
keywords: Elemental analysis; Geographical origin; Multivariate statistics; Saffron