Analytical Methods Determining the geographical origin of Chinese cabbages using multielement composition and strontium isotope ratio analyses Yeon-Sik Bong a,b,1 , Woo-Jin Shin a,1 , Mukesh Kumar Gautam a,1 , Youn-Joong Jeong a , A-Reum Lee c , Chang-Soon Jang d , Yong-Pyo Lim e , Gong-Soo Chung b , Kwang-Sik Lee a,c,⇑ a Division of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Ochang Center, Korea Basic Science Institute, Ochang-eup, Cheongwon-gun, Chungbuk 363-883, Republic of Korea b Department of Geology and Earth Environmental Sciences, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 305-764, Republic of Korea c Graduate School of Analytical Science and Technology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 305-764, Republic of Korea d Hankook Seed Co., Ansung, Gyeonggi-do 459-703, Republic of Korea e College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, Chungnam National University, Daejeon 305-764, Republic of Korea article info Article history: Received 17 December 2010 Received in revised form 8 May 2012 Accepted 3 July 2012 Available online 15 July 2012 Keywords: Chinese cabbage Geographical origin Multielement Strontium isotopes abstract Recently, the Korean market has seen many cases of Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis) that have been imported from China, yet are sold as a Korean product to illegally benefit from the price dif- ference between the two products. This study aims to establish a method of distinguishing the geograph- ical origin of Chinese cabbage. One hundred Chinese cabbage heads from Korea and 60 cabbage heads from China were subjected to multielement composition and strontium isotope ratio ( 87 Sr/ 86 Sr) analyses. The 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratio differed, based on the geological characteristics of their district of production. In addi- tion, the content of many elements differed between cabbages from Korea and China. In particular, the difference in the content of Sr and Ti alone and the combination of Sr, Ca, and Mg allowed us to distin- guish relatively well between Korea and China as the country of origin. The present study demonstrates that the chemical and Sr isotopic analyses exactly reflect the geology of the production areas of Chinese cabbage. Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Due to the worldwide expansion of free trade agreements (FTAs), diverse foods now cross national borders more freely than ever before. Every country has encountered cases in which the country of origin of various foods is fabricated for sales profits based on price differences, causing market disturbances. Accord- ingly, determining the country of origin of food has become a seri- ous social issue, making the analytical technologies used to distinguish the geographical origin of foods more important (Bar- baste, Robinson, Guilfoyle, Medina, & Lobinski, 2002; Kelly, Heaton, & Hoogewerff, 2005). Technologies that can establish the country of origin are an important tool against profiting from misrepresent- ing the country of origin, while remaining essential for food safety and quality control. With the increasing concern over health, or- ganic agricultural products from particular districts are known for their quality and sold at premium prices. Therefore, technolo- gies that can distinguish the geographical origin of food are an important means of protecting the value and establishing con- sumer trust. To determine the geographical origin of food, basic analytical data about food must first be collected from countries of identified origin. The statistical technique chosen for analysis is very impor- tant towards selecting core factors that distinguish the country of origin based on the vast amount of analytical results. For this rea- son, the Trace the Origin of Food program was implemented in Eur- ope in 2005–2009 (TRACE: www.trace.eu.org), which sought to establish safe distribution and management of food. This joint re- search program involved more than 50 research institutes, univer- sities, and enterprises in Europe to establish a method of determining the country of origin of various foods produced in Eur- ope, and to set up a basic research database about various coun- tries. To obtain information about food species and their growing and processing districts, the program adopted three major research methods: trace element and isotope analysis, rapid profiling, and molecular biology. Of the three methods, trace element and isotope analysis tech- nologies are particularly sensitive to the soil and climate condi- tions under which agricultural crops are grown. Distinguishing the country of origin by analysing the trace elements and isotopes present in the food, followed by statistical analysis, has been previously shown to differentiate between countries of origin 0308-8146/$ - see front matter Ó 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.foodchem.2012.07.045 ⇑ Corresponding author at: Division of Earth & Environmental Sciences, Ochang Center, Korea Basic Science Institute, Ochang-eup, Cheongwon-gun, Chungbuk 363-883, Republic of Korea. Tel.: +82 43 240 5337; fax: +82 43 240 5319. E-mail address: kslee@kbsi.re.kr (K.-S. Lee). 1 These authors contributed equally to the work. Food Chemistry 135 (2012) 2666–2674 Contents lists available at SciVerse ScienceDirect Food Chemistry journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/foodchem