Stable isotope and elemental profiles determine geographical origin of saffron from China and Iran.

Origin verification of high-value saffron is essential for fair trade and to protect consumers' interests and rights. A traceability method using elemental content (% C and % N) and stable isotopes (δ ¹³ C, δ ² H, δ ¹⁸ O, and δ ¹⁵ N) combined with chemometrics was developed to discriminate saffron from Iran and China and classify major domestic production areas in China. Results showed that Iranian samples had lower % C and % N contents but higher δ ¹³ C values than Chinese origin saffron, with δ ¹³ C acting as an important variable for origin discrimination. Moreover, δ ² H and δ ¹³ C isotopes were found to be important variables to classify Chinese regional saffron origin. Two supervised pattern recognition models (PLS-DA) developed to classify Iranian and Chinese saffron, and regional Chinese saffron had a discrimination accuracy of 85.0 % and 80.2 %, respectively. These models provide the basis for a new regulatory inspection procedure to verify saffron origin and label claims, minimizing fraudulent mislabeling and adding value to saffron from specific regions.
Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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