Bird Michael I, Box Maria, Comley Rainy, Leavesley Matthew, O'Dea Naomi, Wurster Christopher M
ARC Centre of Excellence for Indigenous and Environmental Histories and Futures, College of Science and Engineering, James Cook University, Cairns, QLD, Australia.
Department of Geography and Environmental Sciences, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom. 2025 Aug 15;39(15):e10058. doi: 10.1002/rcm.10058.
The stable carbon (δC) and nitrogen (δN) isotope composition of human bone and tissues encodes dietary information that in some circumstances can be attributed to geographical location. While there is a global dataset amounting to > 4000 samples, limited data are available for the Australasian region.
One hundred and seven nail/hair samples were detergent and solvent pretreated and analysed for δC and δN composition, sourced from individuals normally residing in southern Australia (temperate), northern Australia (seasonal tropical) and urban Papua New Guinea (tropical). Isotope values for nails were converted to hair keratin equivalent values using accepted fractionation factors. The results were compared with each other, and with the global datasets available from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas.
The southern Australian and Papua New Guinean data exhibit a similar mean and range to each other for both δC and δN values, comparable to results for some regions of Europe and Asia. The northern Australian data extends to higher δC values than the other groups due to a greater component of carbon in the diet ultimately from a C source. Vegetarians exhibit a similar range to the omnivores in δC but tend to lower δN values.
Global supply chains and industrial fertilizer use have reduced the range δC and nitrogen δN values in the samples in this study, as has been the case globally. The range of values observed reflects the ability of consumers to access local produce from supermarkets or local markets. The Australasian data tend to lower δC values than the global average, indicating a dominance of carbon assimilated by C photosynthesis in the diet. While similar to some European and Asian populations, δC values are lower than from regions with a high reliance on carbon assimilated by C photosynthesis, including the Americas and parts of Africa.
人类骨骼和组织的稳定碳（δC）和氮（δN）同位素组成编码了饮食信息，在某些情况下可以归因于地理位置。虽然有一个全球数据集，样本数量超过4000个，但关于澳大拉西亚地区的数据有限。
对107份指甲/头发样本进行洗涤剂和溶剂预处理，并分析其δC和δN组成，样本来自通常居住在澳大利亚南部（温带）、澳大利亚北部（季节性热带）和巴布亚新几内亚城市（热带）的个体。使用公认的分馏系数将指甲的同位素值转换为头发角蛋白等效值。将结果相互比较，并与欧洲、亚洲、非洲和美洲的全球数据集进行比较。
澳大利亚南部和巴布亚新几内亚的数据在δC和δN值方面的均值和范围彼此相似，与欧洲和亚洲一些地区的结果相当。由于饮食中碳的更大比例最终来自C源，澳大利亚北部的数据δC值比其他组更高。素食者的δC范围与杂食者相似，但δN值往往较低。
全球供应链和工业肥料的使用减少了本研究中样本的δC和氮δN值范围，全球情况也是如此。观察到的值范围反映了消费者从超市或当地市场获取当地农产品的能力。澳大拉西亚的数据δC值往往低于全球平均水平，表明饮食中C光合作用同化的碳占主导地位。虽然与一些欧洲和亚洲人群相似，但δC值低于高度依赖C光合作用同化碳的地区，包括美洲和非洲部分地区。
