Stable carbon isotopic composition indicates large presence of maize in Brazilian soy sauces ( shoyu )

Morais, Maristela Calvente; Pellegrinetti, Thierry A.; Sturion, L.C.; Sattolo, T.M.S.; Martinelli, Luiz Antônio

doi:10.1016/j.jfca.2018.04.001

Cited by 11 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…Consequently, Brazil is a major producer of three major commercial C 4 plants: maize, sugarcane, and forage grasses (Martinelli et al, 2010). Due to this abundance, and relatively cheap prices, C 4 plants, like maize and sugarcane, are commonly found in all kinds of Brazilian food products, such as beer (Mardegan et al, 2013), honey (Ehleringer et al, 2015), wine (Martinelli et al, 2003), and soy sauce (Morais et al, 2018). Maize is also a main component in the diet of poultry and pork (Coletta et al, 2012), and C 4 grasses, especially of the genus Brachiaria are extensively used as forages for feeding cattle (Gracindo et al, 2014; Montalvão Lima et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of commercial dog food in Brazil

Galera

Filho

Reis

et al. 2019

PeerJ

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Background Brazil is a low- to medium-income country and has the second largest pet food market in the world with 8% of world pet food consumption. The lowest-income social class spends around 17% of their domestic budget on pet food and other items related to pets. Consumers are frequently misled by advertising as there is no precise information about the main sources of protein, carbohydrates and fat in the labels, and the Brazilian pet food industry can legally claim that their products contain certain items like salmon or beef even if they use just a flavoring compound. Methods The stable isotope methodology compares the stable isotope ratios of carbon (13C/12C) and nitrogen (15N/14N) between source and product. The 13C/12C ratio of a specific product (e.g., dog food) reveals the proportions of C4 (maize) and C3 (soybean, rice and wheat) plants in that product and the 15N/14N ratio reveals the proportion of the compounds derived from animals. With this isotopic data, we used MixSIAR, a Bayesian stable isotope-mixing model, to estimate the proportion of maize, grains, poultry and beef in dog food. Results The δ13C values of dry dog food ranged from −24.2‰ to −12.8‰, with an average (± standard-deviation) of −17.1‰ ± 2.8‰. The δ13C values of wet pet food ranged from −25.4‰ to −16.9‰, with an average (± standard-deviation) of −21.2‰ ± 2.4‰, which was significantly lower (p < 0.01). The δ15N values of the dry and wet food ranged from 1.7‰ to 4.2‰, and from 0.5‰ to 5.5‰, respectively. The average δ15N values of dry food (2.9‰ ± 0.5‰) was not higher than the wet food (2.6‰ ± 1.3‰) (p > 0.01). The output of the MixSIAR showed a low proportion of bovine products in dry dog food samples. On the other hand, poultry was obviously the dominant ingredient present in most of the samples. Maize was the second dominant ingredient. Wet and dry dog food showed similar isotopic analysis results. The only difference was a lower proportion of maize and higher proportion of grains in wet dog food. Discussion The main finding is that dog food in Brazil is mostly made of approximately 60% (ranging from 32% to 86%) animal-based and 40% (ranging from 14% to 67%) plant-based products. Poultry and maize are the main ingredients. Poultry is added as a by-product or meal, which avoids competition between dogs and humans for meat products, while they can compete for maize. On the other hand, a large proportion of plant-based products in dog food decreases the energy and environmental footprint, since plant-based food products tend to be less harmful compared to animal-based products. Labels can mislead consumers by showing pictures of items that are not necessarily part of the product composition and by not showing the detailed information on the proportion of each ingredient. This information would allow customers to make their own choices considering their pet’s nutrition, the competition between animals and humans for resources and environmental sustainability.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of commercial dog food in Brazil

Galera

Filho

Reis

et al. 2019

PeerJ

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“…Other products also have suspiciously high contents of C-C 4 , among them, sauces like mustard and ketchups. Perhaps the most iconic example of the heavy presence of C-C 4 in Brazilian processed foods is soy sauce (shoyu), which has a dominant proportion of maize rather than soy or wheat (both are traditional ingredients of the classic recipe) [7].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, processed meat, especially pork sausage, termed calabresa in Brazil, has become a cheap alternative for the low-income population, primarily in areas where refrigeration is not available, such as isolated communities of the Amazon region [62]. Coupled with the abundance of cheap C-C 4 in the country, there is also the fact that the Brazilian food legislation is usually very flexible regarding the use of ingredients, allowing the use of maize or sugarcane (sources of C-C 4 ) instead of C 3 -derived plants in products such as wine [6] and soy sauce [7].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this context, a current tool of choice in food forensics is stable isotope analysis, which can be a rapid and cost-effective method to detect fraud [3]. Several studies on targeted food items using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios in Brazil revealed that many of the food items investigated are adulterated, mislabeled or even fraudulent [5][6][7][8]. In this regard, carbon isotope ratio analyses have become a useful tool to track the abundances of C 3 and C 4 food sources in human and animal diets [9].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Carbon and Nitrogen Isotope Ratios of Food and Beverage in Brazil

et al. 2020

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Several previous studies on targeted food items using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratios in Brazil have revealed that many of the items investigated are adulterated; mislabeled or even fraud. Here, we present the first Brazilian isotopic baseline assessment that can be used not only in future forensic cases involving food authenticity, but also in human forensic anthropology studies. The δ13C and δ15N were determined in 1245 food items and 374 beverages; most of them made in Brazil. The average δ13C and δ15N of C3 plants were −26.7 ± 1.5‰, and 3.9 ± 3.9‰, respectively, while the average δ13C and δ15N of C4 plants were −11.5 ± 0.8‰ and 4.6 ± 2.6‰, respectively. The δ13C and δ15N of plant-based processed foods were −21.8 ± 4.8‰ and 3.9 ± 2.7‰, respectively. The average δ13C and δ15N of meat, including beef, poultry, pork and lamb were -16.6 ± 4.7‰, and 5.2 ± 2.6‰, respectively, while the δ13C and δ15N of animal-based processed foods were −17.9 ± 3.3‰ and 3.3 ± 3.5‰, respectively. The average δ13C of beverages, including beer and wine was −22.5 ± 3.1‰. We verified that C-C4 constitutes a large proportion of fresh meat, dairy products, as well as animal and plant-based processed foods. The reasons behind this high proportion will be addressed in this study.

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“…The applications of stable isotopes to detect food authentication and adulteration have also been used in Brazil to evaluate the quality and origin of Brazilian wines (Martinelli et al, 2003) and beers (Mardegan et al, 2013), soy sauce (Morais et al, 2018), but also to determine differences in diet of barn versus free-range chickens for studying animal nutrition with food authentication implications (Coletta et al, 2012).…”

Section: Potential Use Of Isoscapes In Brazilmentioning

confidence: 99%

Background and the use of isoscapes in the Brazilian context: essential tool for isotope data interpretation and natural resource management

Sena-Souza¹,

Costa

Nardoto³

2019

Rev. ambiente água

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Spatial patterns of stable isotope ratios can be represented in spatial models called isoscapes, and have been widely used to track biogeochemical processes in natural and anthropic systems. Isoscapes have the potential to improve isotope dissemination and interpretation of spatial patterns, increase scientific results appropriation by non-specialists and improve natural resource management. However, the isoscape approach has not commonly been used in studies performed in the Brazilian context. Isoscapes with oxygen, hydrogen, nitrogen and carbon stable isotopes contribute in areas such as animal migration, forensics, hydrology, and studies on population, community and ecosystem level, among others. Here, we show the well-known global use and applications of isoscapes in different studies worldwide as a background to point out the potential for more Brazilian researchers to employ this approach in their studies, taking advantage of existing methods and filling spatial and methodological gaps. The incorporation of isoscapes may broaden the understanding of mechanisms and processes of major biogeochemical cycles in Brazil, assist in solving crimes, track illicit drug origins, help to detect wild animal trafficking, and increase Brazilian knowledge about the hydrological cycle and animal migration patterns in the Neotropics.

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Stable carbon isotopic composition indicates large presence of maize in Brazilian soy sauces ( shoyu )

Cited by 11 publications

References 12 publications

Carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of commercial dog food in Brazil

Carbon and nitrogen isotopic composition of commercial dog food in Brazil

Carbon and Nitrogen Isotope Ratios of Food and Beverage in Brazil

Background and the use of isoscapes in the Brazilian context: essential tool for isotope data interpretation and natural resource management

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