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Geochemical caper fingerprints as a tool for geographical origin identification

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Abstract

The identification of geographical origin of food products is important for both consumers and producers to ensure quality and avoid label falsifications. The caper plant (Capparis spinosa L., Brassicales Capparidaceae), a xerophytic shrub common in the Mediterranean area, produces buds and fruits that are commercialized in brine at high price. Those grown in Italy in the Aeolian Islands are renowned for their high quality. This study is aimed to establish a correlation between the geological and geochemical features of soil and the chemical composition of caper buds grown in two Aeolian Islands, Lipari and Salina. Major and trace elements were investigated by X-ray fluorescence and inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry in soil and caper samples from three localities in Lipari and Salina, and data from the three sites were compared by a nonparametric test, a correlation test and multivariate statistics (principal component analysis). The results allowed to discriminate soils according to geolithological characteristics of each area and detect a statistically significant correspondence between soil and caper samples for the elements Co, Fe, Mg and Rb, identifying thus possible geochemical caper fingerprints of origin. These results may also be useful to protect the high quality of Aeolian caper products by a suitable “Made in Italy” trademark and avoid falsifications and frauds.

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Acknowledgements

The authors owe thanks to Renzo Tassinari for technical advice and experimental support, and Nunziata Picone, Guglielmo Sardella, Bartolo Cambria and Salvatore D’Amico for their support in the sampling campaign. The authors also wish to thank Dr. Milvia Chicca for useful suggestions in the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Physics and Earth Sciences, University of Ferrara, via Saragat 1, 44121, Ferrara, Italy

    Salvatore Pepi & Carmela Vaccaro

  2. Institute of Atmospheric Sciences and Climate ISAC-CNR Bologna, via P. Gobetti 101, 40129, Bologna, Italy

    Alessandro Sardella, Alessandra Bonazza & Carmela Vaccaro

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  1. Salvatore Pepi
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  2. Alessandro Sardella
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  3. Alessandra Bonazza
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  4. Carmela Vaccaro
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Correspondence to Salvatore Pepi.

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Appendix Table A1

Pearson correlation coefficient among soil samples from Lami, Leni and Pianogreca. Values in bold are statistically significant with p value < 0.05. (XLSX 64 kb)

Appendix Table A2

Pearson correlation coefficient among caper samples from Lami, Leni and Pianogreca. Values in bold are statistically significant with p value < 0.05. (XLSX 54 kb)

Appendix Fig. A.1

Diagrams of Na2O + K2O versus SiO2. (a) (Le Bas et al. 1986) and K2O versus SiO2. (b) (Ewart 1982). Concentrations of oxides are expressed in % (w/w). (TIFF 8516 kb)

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Pepi, S., Sardella, A., Bonazza, A. et al. Geochemical caper fingerprints as a tool for geographical origin identification. Environ Geochem Health 40, 1385–1403 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10653-017-0063-y

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