Primožič Sabina, Terro Cathrine, Strojnik Lidija, Šegatin Nataša, Poklar Ulrih Nataša, Ogrinc Nives
Department of Food Science and Technology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Jamnikarjeva 101, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Department of Environmental Sciences, Jožef Stefan Institute, Jamova 39, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Foods. 2025 Jun 30;14(13):2323. doi: 10.3390/foods14132323.
The authentication of high-value spices such as paprika and cinnamon is critical due to increasing food fraud. This study explored the potential of a multi-analytical approach, combined with chemometric tools, to differentiate 45 paprika and 46 cinnamon samples from the Slovenian market based on their geographic origin, production methods, and possible adulteration. The applied techniques included stable isotope ratio analysis (C, N, S), multi-elemental profiling, FTIR, and antioxidant compound analysis. Distinct isotopic and elemental markers (e.g., C, S, Rb, Cs, V, Fe, Al) contributed to classification by geographic origin, with preliminary classification accuracies of 90% for paprika (Hungary, Serbia, Spain) and 89% for cinnamon (Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Indonesia). Organic paprika samples showed higher values of N, S, and Zn, whereas conventional ones had more Na, Al, V, and Cr. For cinnamon, a 95% discrimination accuracy was achieved between production practice using S and Ba, as well as As, Rb, Na, C, S, Mg, Fe, V, Al, and Cu. FTIR differentiated Ceylon from cassia cinnamon and suggested possible paprika adulteration, as indicated by spectral features consistent with oleoresin removal or azo dye addition, although further verification is required. Antioxidant profiling supported quality assessment, although the high antioxidant activity in cassia cinnamon may reflect non-phenolic contributors. Overall, the results demonstrate the promising potential of the applied analytical techniques to support spice authentication. However, further studies on larger, more balanced datasets are essential to validate and generalize these findings.
由于食品欺诈现象日益增多，辣椒粉和肉桂等高价香料的真伪鉴定至关重要。本研究探索了一种多分析方法结合化学计量工具的潜力，以根据地理来源、生产方法和可能的掺假情况，区分来自斯洛文尼亚市场的45个辣椒粉样本和46个肉桂样本。所应用的技术包括稳定同位素比率分析（碳、氮、硫）、多元素分析、傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）和抗氧化化合物分析。不同的同位素和元素标记（如碳、硫、铷、铯、钒、铁、铝）有助于按地理来源进行分类，辣椒粉（匈牙利、塞尔维亚、西班牙）的初步分类准确率为90%，肉桂（斯里兰卡、马达加斯加、印度尼西亚）的初步分类准确率为89%。有机辣椒粉样本的氮、硫和锌含量较高，而传统辣椒粉样本的钠、铝、钒和铬含量较高。对于肉桂，使用硫和钡以及砷、铷、钠、碳、硫、镁、铁、钒、铝和铜进行生产实践之间的判别准确率达到了95%。傅里叶变换红外光谱区分了锡兰肉桂和桂皮肉桂，并表明可能存在辣椒粉掺假，光谱特征表明可能去除了辣椒油树脂或添加了偶氮染料，不过还需要进一步验证。抗氧化剂分析有助于质量评估，尽管桂皮肉桂中的高抗氧化活性可能反映了非酚类成分的贡献。总体而言，结果表明所应用的分析技术在支持香料真伪鉴定方面具有广阔的潜力。然而，对更大、更平衡的数据集进行进一步研究对于验证和推广这些发现至关重要。
