Parameters for discrimination between organic and conventional production: A case study for chicory plants (Cichorium intybus L.)

Isotopes Don't Lie, differentiating organic from conventional banana (Musa AAA, Cavendish subgroup) fruits using C and N stable isotopes

With the dramatic increase of organic banana production worldwide, it is essential to be able to monitor compliance with organic specifications. While the detection of pesticide fraud is routinely controlled by detecting pesticide residues in organic bananas, the detection of fertilizer fraud is much more complex. We compared the δ¹³C and δ¹⁵N isotopic values of green bananas from organic and conventional farms at seven sites around the world. In our whole dataset, the δ¹⁵N values of banana fruits ranged between -1.25 and + 8.91‰. In all sites, δ¹⁵N values of organic banana were significantly higher than conventional fruits (mean value of + 5.24‰ and + 2.342‰, respectively). Conversely, the type of fertilization did not significantly alter δ¹³C values. Our results suggest that it is possible, upon arrival in importing countries, to differentiate bananas grown with synthetic fertilizer from those grown with organic fertilizer.

Growth and Carotenoid Contents of Intercropped Vegetables in Building-Integrated Urban Agriculture

Sustainable food security due to climate and social change is more important than ever. This study was conducted to increase plant growth and bioactive contents using intercropping technology in urban agriculture. Tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) and sunflowers (Helianthus annuus L.) were intercropped in different ratios in outdoor rooftop, and lettuce (Lactuca savita L.) was grown with chicory (Cichorium intybus. L.) in the indoor LED plant growth chambers. Carotenoids in plant foods were analyzed using an ultraperformance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection. Chlorophyll contents were determined by the soil analysis development chlorophyll meter. Tomatoes planted with sunflowers (3 : 1) had a significantly larger stem diameter ( $p<0.05$ ), a large number of leaves ( $p<0.05$ ), and significantly higher lycopene at d88 ( $p<0.05$ ), d102 ( $p<0.001$ ), and d115 ( $p<0.01$ ), and β-carotene contents at d102 ( $p<0.05$ ) as compared to those of monocultured tomatoes. Lettuce planted in a ratio of 1 : 3 with lettuce and chicory had significantly higher contents of chlorophyll ( $p<0.05$ ), β-carotene ( $p<0.05$ ), and lutein ( $p<0.01$ ), than lettuce planted alone. On the other hand, intercropping of chicory and lettuce did not have a beneficial effect on the growth and carotenoid content of chicory. The current study indicates that plant growth and carotenoid content can be substantially modified by cocultivation, and the effects may vary depending on the type of plant and the crop ratio.

Attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy and chemometrics for organic cinnamon evaluation

Organic food consumption has increased significantly over time. This contributes to the increased demand and price of this kind of food. Among the organic products, cinnamon stands out for its characteristic flavor and bioactive compounds. Thus, the work aimed to verify the potentials of attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform mid-infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FT-MIR) coupled with Parallel Factor Analysis (PARAFAC) for evaluation of cinnamon organic samples. As result, the proposal is feasible in the differentiation of organic cinnamon powder, in which ATR-FT-MIR coupled with PARAFAC showed the differentiation of organic from non-organic ones on the scores mode, the precision at repeatability level on one loading mode, and the spectral region, on the other loading mode, above 2600 cm^-1 was related to the differentiation of the organic and non-organic samples.

Stable Isotope Ratios of Herbs and Spices Commonly Used as Herbal Infusions in the Italian Market

Stable isotope ratio analysis has been widely used for traceability and authenticity purposes in relation to various food commodities, but only in a limited number of herb and spice species. This study explored the stable isotope ratios of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and hydrogen (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N, δ³⁴S, δ¹⁸O, and δ²H) of 119 herbs and spices belonging to 116 plant species and 57 plant families collected from the Italian market for the first time. The characteristic value ranges of δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N, δ³⁴S, δ¹⁸O, and δ²H of the herbs and spices went from -31.0 to -11.6, -4.7 to 12.0, -5.0 to 22.0, 14.7 to 46.0, and -158 to -12‰, respectively. The isotopic profiles within and between common botanical families and their similarity/dissimilarity between herbs and spices belonging to the common botanical families are also discussed here. The results of this exploratory work highlight the possibility of characterizing herbs and spices and suggest widening the scope of the survey through more extensive sampling and focusing on specific plant species.