Can We Discover Truffle’s True Identity?

Abstract

This study used elemental and stable isotope composition to characterize Slovenian truffles and used multi-variate statistical analysis to classify truffles according to species and geographical origin. Despite the fact that the Slovenian truffles shared some similar characteristics with the samples originating from other countries, differences in the element concentrations suggest that respective truffle species may respond selectively to nutrients from a certain soil type under environmental and soil conditions. Cross-validation resulted in a 77% correct classification rate for determining the geographical origin and a 74% correct classification rate to discriminate between species. The critical parameters for geographical origin discriminations were Sr, Ba, V, Pb, Ni, Cr, Ba/Ca and Sr/Ca ratios, while from stable isotopes δ18O and δ13C values are the most important. The key variables that distinguish T. magnatum from other species are the levels of V and Zn and δ15N values. Tuber aestivum can be separated based on the levels of Ni, Cr, Mn, Mg, As, and Cu. This preliminary study indicates the possibility to differentiate truffles according to their variety and geographical origin and suggests widening the scope to include stable strontium isotopes.

The Provenance of Slovenian Milk Using 87Sr/86Sr Isotope Ratios

“…Dots on the vertical lines refer to the results obtained from the literature, whereas lines indicate the span of values. The 87 Sr/ 86 Sr isotope ratios in Slovenian truffles are also presented [39].…”

Special Issue “Isotopic Techniques for Food Science”

“…This special issue also includes several papers that use stable isotope ratios, elemental profiles, and fatty acid composition to assure the authenticity and origin of high-quality products typical of the national identities of Mediterranean countries such as Moroccan argan oil [ 8 ], Portuguese meat products from Iberian black pigs [ 9 ], and Slovenian truffles [ 10 ]. These studies form part of the REALMed project “Pursuing authenticity and valorization of Mediterranean traditional products” (ARIMNET 2 call 2016) that aimed to provide reliable technological tools for authentication and quality assessment and make these tools widely available to stakeholders and consumers and promote traditional knowledge and the sustainable development of local economies [ 11 ].…”

“…The study performed on cosmetic argan oil shows the feasibility of implementing authenticity criteria for argan oils by including limit values for trans-fatty acids and the ability to discern provenance using fatty acid profiling [ 8 ]. The research performed on truffles indicated that elemental and stable isotope composition together with multivariate statistical analysis classified truffles according to species and geographical origin [ 10 ]. Cross-validation resulted in a 74% correct classification rate for determining the species and a 77% correct classification rate for geographical origin discrimination.…”

“…The results indicate the multiple lead sources present in bottled wine; however, none of them corresponds to the one present in soil, showing that anthropogenic sources of lead probably interfere in the soil–wine system. Conversely, 87 Sr/ 86 Sr values in truffles indicate that truffles reflect the local geochemistry of the environment in which they grow [ 10 ]. The 87 Sr/ 86 Sr of truffles appeared initially to be controlled by the carbonate fraction of soil, which makes Sr values useful for determining provenance in areas with and without limestone.…”

“…Some of the manuscripts [ 3 , 4 , 8 , 10 ] presented their raw data in the supplementary material supporting the open-access of research data. Much of this data is also in the e -component of different projects such as METROFOOD-RI research infrastructure and FNS-Cloud.…”