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Techniques for Food Authentication: Trends and Emerging Approaches
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Techniques for Food Authentication: Trends and Emerging Approaches

A special issue of Foods (ISSN 2304-8158). This special issue belongs to the section "Food Analytical Methods".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2021) | Viewed by 36260

Printed Edition Available!
A printed edition of this Special Issue is available here.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Margit Cichna-Markl

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Analytical & Food Chemistry, University of Vienna, Wahringer Str 38, A-1090 Vienna, Austria
Interests: analytical chemistry; food chemistry; immunoanalytical and molecular biological methods
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Isabel Mafra

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
REQUIMTE—LAQV, Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal
Interests: allergen detection; DNA analysis; food analysis; food authentication; GMO detection; food chemistry; real-time PCR
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

According to national and international legal regulations, food producers and retailers are not allowed to deliberately give false or misleading statements on food labels. Any information on composition, quality, geographic origin, and processing of food products must be correct. Studies, however, indicate that fraudulent practices are a global phenomenon.

Food authentication is a challenging task. A broad spectrum of methodologies is necessary to address the different aspects of food adulteration. Methods should be sensitive, accurate, reproducible, robust, and applicable to raw and highly processed foodstuffs to be suitable for routine analysis.

This Special Issue will publish innovative research on all aspects of food authentication and all food types, with an emphasis on method development and validation. The issue covers established methodologies, e.g., DNA-based, spectroscopic/spectrometric, chromatographic, and electrophoretic methods, but also emerging approaches. Both review and original research articles are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Margit Cichna-Markl
Dr. Isabel Mafra
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Foods is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • food authentication
  • method development
  • method validation
  • geographic origin
  • species identification
  • DNA based techniques
  • chromatography
  • spectroscopy
  • spectrometry
  • electrophoresis
  • chemometric methods

Published Papers (13 papers)

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Editorial

Jump to: Research, Review

4 pages, 211 KiB  
Editorial
Techniques for Food Authentication: Trends and Emerging Approaches
by Margit Cichna-Markl and Isabel Mafra
Foods 2023, 12(6), 1134; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods12061134 - 08 Mar 2023
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1605
Abstract
Food producers and retailers are obliged to provide correct food information to consumers; however, despite national and international legislation, food labels frequently contain false or misleading statements regarding food composition, quality, geographic origin, and/or processing [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Techniques for Food Authentication: Trends and Emerging Approaches)

Research

Jump to: Editorial, Review

11 pages, 1112 KiB  
Article
Authentication of Argan (Argania spinosa L.) Oil Using Novel DNA-Based Approaches: Detection of Olive and Soybean Oils as Potential Adulterants
by Joana S. Amaral, Fatima Z. Raja, Joana Costa, Liliana Grazina, Caterina Villa, Zoubida Charrouf and Isabel Mafra
Foods 2022, 11(16), 2498; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods11162498 - 18 Aug 2022
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1899
Abstract
Argan oil is a traditional product obtained from the fruits of the argan tree (Argania spinosa L.), which is endemic only to Morocco. It is commercialized worldwide as cosmetic and food-grade argan oil, attaining very high prices in the international market. Therefore, [...] Read more.
Argan oil is a traditional product obtained from the fruits of the argan tree (Argania spinosa L.), which is endemic only to Morocco. It is commercialized worldwide as cosmetic and food-grade argan oil, attaining very high prices in the international market. Therefore, argan oil is very prone to adulteration with cheaper vegetable oils. The present work aims at developing novel real-time PCR approaches to detect olive and soybean oils as potential adulterants, as well as ascertain the presence of argan oil. The ITS region, matK and lectin genes were the targeted markers, allowing to detect argan, olive and soybean DNA down to 0.01 pg, 0.1 pg and 3.2 pg, respectively, with real-time PCR. Moreover, to propose practical quantitative methods, two calibrant models were developed using the normalized ΔCq method to estimate potential adulterations of argan oil with olive or soybean oils. The results allowed for the detection and quantification of olive and soybean oils within 50–1% and 25–1%, respectively, both in argan oil. Both approaches provided acceptable performance parameters and accurate determinations, as proven by their applicability to blind mixtures. Herein, new qualitative and quantitative PCR assays are proposed for the first time as reliable and high-throughput tools to authenticate and valorize argan oil. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Techniques for Food Authentication: Trends and Emerging Approaches)
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15 pages, 1255 KiB  
Article
Authenticity of Hay Milk vs. Milk from Maize or Grass Silage by Lipid Analysis
by Sebastian Imperiale, Elke Kaneppele, Ksenia Morozova, Federico Fava, Demian Martini-Lösch, Peter Robatscher, Giovanni Peratoner, Elena Venir, Daniela Eisenstecken and Matteo Scampicchio
Foods 2021, 10(12), 2926; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods10122926 - 26 Nov 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2005
Abstract
Hay milk is a traditional dairy product recently launched on the market. It is protected as “traditional specialty guaranteed” (TSG) and subjected to strict regulations. One of the most important restrictions is that the cow’s feed ration must be free from silage. There [...] Read more.
Hay milk is a traditional dairy product recently launched on the market. It is protected as “traditional specialty guaranteed” (TSG) and subjected to strict regulations. One of the most important restrictions is that the cow’s feed ration must be free from silage. There is the need for analytical methods that can discriminate milk obtained from a feeding regime including silage. This study proposes two analytical approaches to assess the authenticity of hay milk. Hay milk and milk from cows fed either with maize or grass silage were analyzed by targeted GC-MS for cyclopropane fatty acid (dihydrosterculic acid, DHSA) detection, since this fatty acid is strictly related to the bacterial strains found in silage, and by HPLC-HRMS. The presence of DHSA was correlated to the presence of maize silage in the feed, whereas it was ambiguous with grass silage. HPLC-HRMS analysis resulted in the identification of 14 triacylglycerol biomarkers in milk. With the use of these biomarkers and multivariate statistical analysis, we were able to predict the use of maize and grass silage in the cow’s diet with 100% recognition. Our findings suggest that the use of analytical approaches based on HRMS is a viable authentication method for hay milk. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Techniques for Food Authentication: Trends and Emerging Approaches)
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28 pages, 1922 KiB  
Article
Identification of Mammalian and Poultry Species in Food and Pet Food Samples Using 16S rDNA Metabarcoding
by Laura Preckel, Claudia Brünen-Nieweler, Grégoire Denay, Henning Petersen, Margit Cichna-Markl, Stefanie Dobrovolny and Rupert Hochegger
Foods 2021, 10(11), 2875; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods10112875 - 20 Nov 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2954
Abstract
The substitution of more appreciated animal species by animal species of lower commercial value is a common type of meat product adulteration. DNA metabarcoding, the combination of DNA barcoding with next-generation sequencing (NGS), plays an increasing role in food authentication. In the present [...] Read more.
The substitution of more appreciated animal species by animal species of lower commercial value is a common type of meat product adulteration. DNA metabarcoding, the combination of DNA barcoding with next-generation sequencing (NGS), plays an increasing role in food authentication. In the present study, we investigated the applicability of a DNA metabarcoding method for routine analysis of mammalian and poultry species in food and pet food products. We analyzed a total of 104 samples (25 reference samples, 56 food products and 23 pet food products) by DNA metabarcoding and by using a commercial DNA array and/or by real-time PCR. The qualitative and quantitative results obtained by the DNA metabarcoding method were in line with those obtained by PCR. Results from the independent analysis of a subset of seven reference samples in two laboratories demonstrate the robustness and reproducibility of the DNA metabarcoding method. DNA metabarcoding is particularly suitable for detecting unexpected species ignored by targeted methods such as real-time PCR and can also be an attractive alternative with respect to the expenses as indicated by current data from the cost accounting of the AGES laboratory. Our results for the commercial samples show that in addition to food products, DNA metabarcoding is particularly applicable to pet food products, which frequently contain multiple animal species and are also highly prone to adulteration as indicated by the high portion of analyzed pet food products containing undeclared species. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Techniques for Food Authentication: Trends and Emerging Approaches)
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14 pages, 1467 KiB  
Article
Real-Time PCR Assay for the Detection and Quantification of Roe Deer to Detect Food Adulteration—Interlaboratory Validation Involving Laboratories in Austria, Germany, and Switzerland
by Barbara Druml, Steffen Uhlig, Kirsten Simon, Kirstin Frost, Karina Hettwer, Margit Cichna-Markl and Rupert Hochegger
Foods 2021, 10(11), 2645; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods10112645 - 01 Nov 2021
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2022
Abstract
Game meat products are particularly prone to be adulterated by replacing game meat with cheaper meat species. Recently, we have presented a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the identification and quantification of roe deer in food. Quantification of the roe deer [...] Read more.
Game meat products are particularly prone to be adulterated by replacing game meat with cheaper meat species. Recently, we have presented a real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the identification and quantification of roe deer in food. Quantification of the roe deer content in % (w/w) was achieved relatively by subjecting the DNA isolates to a reference real-time PCR assay in addition to the real-time PCR assay for roe deer. Aiming at harmonizing analytical methods for food authentication across EU Member States, the real-time PCR assay for roe deer has been tested in an interlaboratory ring trial including 14 laboratories from Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. Participating laboratories obtained aliquots of DNA isolates from a meat mixture containing 24.8% (w/w) roe deer in pork, roe deer meat, and 12 meat samples whose roe deer content was not disclosed. Performance characteristics included amplification efficiency, level of detection (LOD95%), repeatability, reproducibility, and accuracy of quantitative results. With a relative reproducibility standard deviation ranging from 13.35 to 25.08% (after outlier removal) and recoveries ranging from 84.4 to 114.3%, the real-time PCR assay was found to be applicable for the detection and quantification of roe deer in raw meat samples to detect food adulteration. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Techniques for Food Authentication: Trends and Emerging Approaches)
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16 pages, 3209 KiB  
Article
Development of a DNA Metabarcoding Method for the Identification of Bivalve Species in Seafood Products
by Kristina Gense, Verena Peterseil, Alma Licina, Martin Wagner, Margit Cichna-Markl, Stefanie Dobrovolny and Rupert Hochegger
Foods 2021, 10(11), 2618; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods10112618 - 28 Oct 2021
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2775
Abstract
The production of bivalve species has been increasing in the last decades. In spite of strict requirements for species declaration, incorrect labelling of bivalve products has repeatedly been detected. We present a DNA metabarcoding method allowing the identification of bivalve species belonging to [...] Read more.
The production of bivalve species has been increasing in the last decades. In spite of strict requirements for species declaration, incorrect labelling of bivalve products has repeatedly been detected. We present a DNA metabarcoding method allowing the identification of bivalve species belonging to the bivalve families Mytilidae (mussels), Pectinidae (scallops), and Ostreidae (oysters) in foodstuffs. The method, developed on Illumina instruments, targets a 150 bp fragment of mitochondrial 16S rDNA. We designed seven primers (three primers for mussel species, two primers for scallop species and a primer pair for oyster species) and combined them in a triplex PCR assay. In each of eleven reference samples, the bivalve species was identified correctly. In ten DNA extract mixtures, not only the main component (97.0–98.0%) but also the minor components (0.5–1.5%) were detected correctly, with only a few exceptions. The DNA metabarcoding method was found to be applicable to complex and processed foodstuffs, allowing the identification of bivalves in, e.g., marinated form, in sauces, in seafood mixes and even in instant noodle seafood. The method is highly suitable for food authentication in routine analysis, in particular in combination with a DNA metabarcoding method for mammalian and poultry species published recently. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Techniques for Food Authentication: Trends and Emerging Approaches)
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19 pages, 4145 KiB  
Article
ATR-FTIR Spectroscopy Combined with Multivariate Analysis Successfully Discriminates Raw Doughs and Baked 3D-Printed Snacks Enriched with Edible Insect Powder
by Nerea García-Gutiérrez, Jorge Mellado-Carretero, Christophe Bengoa, Ana Salvador, Teresa Sanz, Junjing Wang, Montse Ferrando, Carme Güell and Sílvia de Lamo-Castellví
Foods 2021, 10(8), 1806; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods10081806 - 05 Aug 2021
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 3254
Abstract
In a preliminary study, commercial insect powders were successfully identified using infrared spectroscopy combined with multivariate analysis. Nonetheless, it is necessary to check if this technology is capable of discriminating, predicting, and quantifying insect species once they are used as an ingredient in [...] Read more.
In a preliminary study, commercial insect powders were successfully identified using infrared spectroscopy combined with multivariate analysis. Nonetheless, it is necessary to check if this technology is capable of discriminating, predicting, and quantifying insect species once they are used as an ingredient in food products. The objective of this research was to study the potential of using attenuated total reflection Fourier transform mid-infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTMIR) combined with multivariate analysis to discriminate doughs and 3D-printed baked snacks, enriched with Alphitobius diaperinus and Locusta migratoria powders. Several doughs were made with a variable amount of insect powder (0–13.9%) replacing the same amount of chickpea flour (46–32%). The spectral data were analyzed using soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) and partial least squares regression (PLSR) algorithms. SIMCA models successfully discriminated the insect species used to prepare the doughs and snacks. Discrimination was mainly associated with lipids, proteins, and chitin. PLSR models predicted the percentage of insect powder added to the dough and the snacks, with determination coefficients of 0.972, 0.979, and 0.994 and a standard error of prediction of 1.24, 1.08, and 1.90%, respectively. ATR-FTMIR combined with multivariate analysis has a high potential as a new tool in insect product authentication. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Techniques for Food Authentication: Trends and Emerging Approaches)
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16 pages, 3838 KiB  
Article
Chia Oil Adulteration Detection Based on Spectroscopic Measurements
by Monica Mburu, Clement Komu, Olivier Paquet-Durand, Bernd Hitzmann and Viktoria Zettel
Foods 2021, 10(8), 1798; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods10081798 - 04 Aug 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2516
Abstract
Chia oil is a valuable source of omega-3-fatty acids and other nutritional components. However, it is expensive to produce and can therefore be easily adulterated with cheaper oils to improve the profit margins. Spectroscopic methods are becoming more and more common in food [...] Read more.
Chia oil is a valuable source of omega-3-fatty acids and other nutritional components. However, it is expensive to produce and can therefore be easily adulterated with cheaper oils to improve the profit margins. Spectroscopic methods are becoming more and more common in food fraud detection. The aim of this study was to answer following questions: Is it possible to detect chia oil adulteration by spectroscopic analysis of the oils? Is it possible to identify the adulteration oil? Is it possible to determine the amount of adulteration? Two chia oils from local markets were adulterated with three common food oils, including sunflower, rapeseed and corn oil. Subsequently, six chia oils obtained from different sites in Kenya were adulterated with sunflower oil to check the results. Raman, NIR and fluorescence spectroscopy were applied for the analysis. It was possible to detect the amount of adulterated oils by spectroscopic analysis, with a minimum R2 of 0.95 for the used partial least square regression with a maximum RMSEPrange of 10%. The adulterations of chia oils by rapeseed, sunflower and corn oil were identified by classification with a median true positive rate of 90%. The training accuracies, sensitivity and specificity of the classifications were over 90%. Chia oil B was easier to detect. The adulterated samples were identified with a precision of 97%. All of the classification methods show good results, however SVM were the best. The identification of the adulteration oil was possible; less than 5% of the adulteration oils were difficult to detect. In summary, spectroscopic analysis of chia oils might be a useful tool to identify adulterations. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Techniques for Food Authentication: Trends and Emerging Approaches)
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12 pages, 1870 KiB  
Article
Classification of Botrytized Wines Based on Producing Technology Using Flow-Modulated Comprehensive Two-Dimensional Gas Chromatography
by Olga Vyviurska, Nemanja Koljančić, Ha Anh Thai, Roman Gorovenko and Ivan Špánik
Foods 2021, 10(4), 876; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods10040876 - 16 Apr 2021
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 2151
Abstract
The enantiomeric ratio of chiral compounds is known as a useful tool to estimate wine quality as well as observe an influence of wine-producing technology. The incorporation of flow-modulated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography in this type of analysis provides a possibility to improve [...] Read more.
The enantiomeric ratio of chiral compounds is known as a useful tool to estimate wine quality as well as observe an influence of wine-producing technology. The incorporation of flow-modulated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography in this type of analysis provides a possibility to improve the quality of results due to the enhancement of separation capacity and resolution. In this study, flow-modulated comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography was incorporated in enantioselective analysis to determine the influence of winemaking technology on specific features of botrytized wines. The samples included Tokaj essences (high-sugar wines), Tokaj botrytized wines and varietal wines (Furmint, Muscat Lunel, Lipovina) and wines maturated on grape peels. The obtained data was processed with hierarchic cluster analysis to reveal variations in composition and assess classification ability for botrytized wines. A significant difference between the samples was observed for the enantiomeric distribution of ethyl lactate and presence of monoterpene alcohols. The varietal wines were successfully separated from the other types, which showed more similar results and could be divided with additional parameters. We observed a correlation between the botrytized wines and the varietal wines fermented with grape skins. As to the essences produced from juice of botrytized grapes, the results were quite similar to those of the botrytized wines, even though monoterpenes were not detected in the extracts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Techniques for Food Authentication: Trends and Emerging Approaches)
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13 pages, 669 KiB  
Article
Geographic Pattern of Sushi Product Misdescription in Italy—A Crosstalk between Citizen Science and DNA Barcoding
by Anna Maria Pappalardo, Alessandra Raffa, Giada Santa Calogero and Venera Ferrito
Foods 2021, 10(4), 756; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods10040756 - 02 Apr 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3011
Abstract
The food safety of sushi and the health of consumers are currently of high concern for food safety agencies across the world due to the globally widespread consumption of these products. The microbiological and toxicological risks derived from the consumption of raw fish [...] Read more.
The food safety of sushi and the health of consumers are currently of high concern for food safety agencies across the world due to the globally widespread consumption of these products. The microbiological and toxicological risks derived from the consumption of raw fish and seafood have been highlighted worldwide, while the practice of species substitution in sushi products has attracted the interest of researchers more than food safety agencies. In this study, samples of sushi were processed for species authentication using the Cytochrome Oxidase I (COI) gene as a DNA barcode. The approach of Citizen Science was used to obtain the sushi samples by involving people from eighteen different Italian cities (Northern, Central and Southern Italy). The results indicate that a considerable rate of species substitution exists with a percentage of misdescription ranging from 31.8% in Northern Italy to 40% in Central Italy. The species most affected by replacement was Thunnus thynnus followed by the flying fish roe substituted by eggs of Mallotus villosus. These results indicate that a standardization of fish market names should be realized at the international level and that the indication of the scientific names of species should be mandatory for all products of the seafood supply chain. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Techniques for Food Authentication: Trends and Emerging Approaches)
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19 pages, 12211 KiB  
Article
Origin Determination of Walnuts (Juglans regia L.) on a Worldwide and Regional Level by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry and Chemometrics
by Torben Segelke, Kristian von Wuthenau, Anita Kuschnereit, Marie-Sophie Müller and Markus Fischer
Foods 2020, 9(11), 1708; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods9111708 - 20 Nov 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3430
Abstract
To counteract food fraud, this study aimed at the differentiation of walnuts on a global and regional level using an isotopolomics approach. Thus, the multi-elemental profiles of 237 walnut samples from ten countries and three years of harvest were analyzed with inductively coupled [...] Read more.
To counteract food fraud, this study aimed at the differentiation of walnuts on a global and regional level using an isotopolomics approach. Thus, the multi-elemental profiles of 237 walnut samples from ten countries and three years of harvest were analyzed with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and the resulting element profiles were evaluated with chemometrics. Using support vector machine (SVM) for classification, validated by stratified nested cross validation, a prediction accuracy of 73% could be achieved. Leave-one-out cross validation was also applied for comparison and led to less satisfactory results because of the higher variations in sensitivity for distinct classes. Prediction was still possible using only elemental ratios instead of the absolute element concentrations; consequently, a drying step is not mandatory. In addition, the isotopolomics approach provided the classification of walnut samples on a regional level in France, Germany, and Italy, with accuracies of 91%, 77%, and 94%, respectively. The ratio of the model’s accuracy to a random sample distribution was calculated, providing a new parameter with which to evaluate and compare the performance of classification models. The walnut cultivar and harvest year had no observable influence on the origin differentiation. Our results show the high potential of element profiling for the origin authentication of walnuts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Techniques for Food Authentication: Trends and Emerging Approaches)
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Review

Jump to: Editorial, Research

24 pages, 1115 KiB  
Review
Microsatellite Markers in Olives (Olea europaea L.): Utility in the Cataloging of Germplasm, Food Authenticity and Traceability Studies
by Shambhavi Yadav, Joana Carvalho, Isabel Trujillo and Marta Prado
Foods 2021, 10(8), 1907; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods10081907 - 17 Aug 2021
Cited by 12 | Viewed by 3578
Abstract
The olive fruit, a symbol of Mediterranean diets, is a rich source of antioxidants and oleic acid (55–83%). Olive genetic resources, including cultivated olives (cultivars), wild olives as well as related subspecies, are distributed widely across the Mediterranean region and other countries. Certain [...] Read more.
The olive fruit, a symbol of Mediterranean diets, is a rich source of antioxidants and oleic acid (55–83%). Olive genetic resources, including cultivated olives (cultivars), wild olives as well as related subspecies, are distributed widely across the Mediterranean region and other countries. Certain cultivars have a high commercial demand and economical value due to the differentiating organoleptic characteristics. This might result in economically motivated fraudulent practices and adulteration. Hence, tools to ensure the authenticity of constituent olive cultivars are crucial, and this can be achieved accurately through DNA-based methods. The present review outlines the applications of microsatellite markers, one of the most extensively used types of molecular markers in olive species, particularly referring to the use of these DNA-based markers in cataloging the vast olive germplasm, leading to identification and authentication of the cultivars. Emphasis has been given on the need to adopt a uniform platform where global molecular information pertaining to the details of available markers, cultivar-specific genotyping profiles (their synonyms or homonyms) and the comparative profiles of oil and reference leaf samples is accessible to researchers. The challenges of working with microsatellite markers and efforts underway, mainly advancements in genotyping methods which can be effectively incorporated in olive oil varietal testing, are also provided. Such efforts will pave the way for the development of more robust microsatellite marker-based olive agri-food authentication platforms. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Techniques for Food Authentication: Trends and Emerging Approaches)
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20 pages, 582 KiB  
Review
Advances in Troubleshooting Fish and Seafood Authentication by Inorganic Elemental Composition
by Maria Olga Varrà, Sergio Ghidini, Lenka Husáková, Adriana Ianieri and Emanuela Zanardi
Foods 2021, 10(2), 270; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/foods10020270 - 29 Jan 2021
Cited by 24 | Viewed by 3255
Abstract
The demand for fish and seafood is growing worldwide. Meanwhile, problems related to the integrity and safety of the fishery sector are increasing, leading legislators, producers, and consumers to search for ways to effectively protect themselves from fraud and health hazards related to [...] Read more.
The demand for fish and seafood is growing worldwide. Meanwhile, problems related to the integrity and safety of the fishery sector are increasing, leading legislators, producers, and consumers to search for ways to effectively protect themselves from fraud and health hazards related to fish consumption. What is urgently required now is the availability of reliable, truthful, and reproducible methods assuring the correspondence between the real nature of the product and label declarations accompanying the same product during its market life. The evaluation of the inorganic composition of fish and seafood appears to be one of the most promising strategies to be exploited in the near future to assist routine and official monitoring operations along the supply chain. The present review article focuses on exploring the latest scientific achievements of using the multi-elemental composition of fish and seafood as an imprint of their authenticity and traceability, especially with regards to the geographical origin. The scientific literature of the last 10 years focusing on the analytical determination and statistical elaboration of elemental data (alone or in combination with methodologies targeting other compounds) to verify the identity of fishery products is summarized and discussed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Techniques for Food Authentication: Trends and Emerging Approaches)
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