Search Results (40)

Ground clove bud adulteration with cheaper materials, such as clove stem and soil, poses a significant threat to spice quality and consumer trust. This study introduces a novel, alternative analytical method for the authentication and detection of adulteration in ground clove bud samples. The approach combines voltammetric fingerprinting using a multi-walled carbon nanotube-modified electrode with robust chemometric analysis. Cyclic voltammetry of clove bud samples revealed anodic peaks above +0.5 V and a smaller cathodic peak between +0.5 and −0.3 V vs. Ag/AgCl, suggesting the presence of electroactive compounds. Voltammograms were obtained for authentic clove bud samples sourced from three major Indonesian production regions (South Sulawesi, North Maluku, and East Java), showing varying redox peak intensities. Chemometric analysis, specifically Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA), was successfully employed to differentiate clove bud samples by geographical origin, and Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to discriminate authentic clove bud samples from adulterants. Furthermore, Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) was utilized to quantify adulteration levels, predicting adulterant concentration (10–100% w/w) using electrochemical signal intensities. The PLSR method exhibited strong linearity between observed and predicted values, confirming its robustness. This proposed method offers a simple, portable, and practical approach for the quality control of ground clove bud. The combination of rapid voltammetric measurement and chemometric modelling provides a valuable and practical tool to prevent fraud and ensure the integrity of the spice trade. Full article

Black pepper is the most widely used spice crop globally and has significant economic value, making it a target for economically motivated adulteration. A wide range of organic and inorganic bulking materials has been used as adulterants in black pepper. Development of rapid non-targeted screening methods for use at different stages of the black pepper supply chain is extremely important for the identification and prevention of evolving fraudulent practices. This study has assessed the potential of benchtop Fourier Transform infrared with attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR), benchtop Fourier Transform near-infrared (FT-NIR), and two handheld NIR spectrometers, coupled with chemometrics, for the discrimination of black pepper (Piper nigrum), pepper from other species and genera (non-Piper nigrum) and a broad range (n = 27) of endogenous and exogenous adulterants. Spiked samples were prepared to imitate pepper adulteration with seven different adulterants at five levels of adulteration (5%, 25%, 50%, 75%, 95% w/w). Orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) achieved 100% total prediction accuracy for both FTIR-ATR and FT-NIR in differentiating authentic Piper nigrum and adulterant samples. The handheld microNIR 1700ES resulted in a 91.30% correct classification rate, while the SCiO model achieved 86.96% prediction accuracy. Detection of black pepper adulteration with multiple adulterants was performed using data-driven soft independent modelling of class analogy (DD-SIMCA). The highest performance of the DD-SIMCA model was achieved by FTIR-ATR (100% sensitivity and 100% specificity) followed by FT-NIR (98% sensitivity and 99% specificity). The handheld microNIR 1700ES resulted in 95% sensitivity and 90% specificity. This study demonstrated that FTIR-ATR and FT-NIR, coupled with DD-SIMCA, can effectively detect black pepper adulteration with multiple endogenous and exogenous adulterants. The handheld NIR (microNIR1700ES) clearly demonstrated the potential for rapid and effective verification of Piper nigrum authenticity outside the laboratory. Full article

Powdered foods are matrices transformed into fine, loose solid particles through dehydration and/or milling, which enhances stability, storage, and transport. Due to their high commercial value and susceptibility to fraudulent practices, detecting adulterants in powdered foods is essential for ensuring food safety and protecting consumer health and the economy. Food fraud in powdered products, such as spices, cereals, dairy-based powders, and dietary supplements, poses an increasing risk to public health and consumer trust. These products were selected as representative matrices due to their high nutritional and economic relevance, which also makes them more susceptible to adulteration and hidden potential health risks from hidden contaminants. Recent studies highlight the potential of spectroscopic techniques combined with chemometrics as rapid, non-destructive, and cost-effective tools for authentication. This narrative review synthesizes recent literature (2020–2025) on the application of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy combined with chemometric techniques for adulterant detection in powdered foods. Advances in spectral preprocessing, variable selection, classification, and regression models are discussed alongside the most common adulterants and their nutritional and toxicological implications. Furthermore, the applicability of portable versus benchtop NIR devices is compared. The main contribution of this review lies in critically analyzing methodological frameworks, mapping current gaps, and identifying emerging trends, such as digital integration, self-adaptive chemometric models, and real-time on-site authentication, positioning NIR spectroscopy as a promising tool for food authentication and quality control. Full article

The authentication of high-value spices such as paprika and cinnamon is critical due to increasing food fraud. This study explored the potential of a multi-analytical approach, combined with chemometric tools, to differentiate 45 paprika and 46 cinnamon samples from the Slovenian market based on their geographic origin, production methods, and possible adulteration. The applied techniques included stable isotope ratio analysis (δ¹³C, δ¹⁵N, δ³⁴S), multi-elemental profiling, FTIR, and antioxidant compound analysis. Distinct isotopic and elemental markers (e.g., δ¹³C, δ³⁴S, Rb, Cs, V, Fe, Al) contributed to classification by geographic origin, with preliminary classification accuracies of 90% for paprika (Hungary, Serbia, Spain) and 89% for cinnamon (Sri Lanka, Madagascar, Indonesia). Organic paprika samples showed higher values of δ¹⁵N, δ³⁴S, and Zn, whereas conventional ones had more Na, Al, V, and Cr. For cinnamon, a 95% discrimination accuracy was achieved between production practice using δ³⁴S and Ba, as well as As, Rb, Na, δ¹³C, S, Mg, Fe, V, Al, and Cu. FTIR differentiated Ceylon from cassia cinnamon and suggested possible paprika adulteration, as indicated by spectral features consistent with oleoresin removal or azo dye addition, although further verification is required. Antioxidant profiling supported quality assessment, although the high antioxidant activity in cassia cinnamon may reflect non-phenolic contributors. Overall, the results demonstrate the promising potential of the applied analytical techniques to support spice authentication. However, further studies on larger, more balanced datasets are essential to validate and generalize these findings. Full article

Saffron is a high-cost spice due to the specific conditions for optimal growth and because of being harvested by hand. The massive income from commercializing saffron substituted with other plant parts or low-cost spices makes this spice the main target of fraudsters. Background: Different methods have been developed for detecting saffron adulteration. Most of them are time consuming and complex, and in some types of analysis, the whole untargeted dataset is combined with advanced chemometric tools to differentiate authentic from non-authentic saffron. The official method, combining UV–vis spectroscopy and LC to determine the colour strength and the crocin content, is unable to detect saffron adulterants (safflower, marigold, or turmeric) added at a level lower than 20% (w/w). As a result, innovative approaches based on rapid, high-throughput methods for the identification of adulterated saffron samples are urgently demanded to counteract food frauds. Methods: This paper describes, for the first time, the development of a method combining Direct Analysis in Real Time (DART) with the triple quadrupole MS EVOQ based on the detection of specific MS/MS transitions, promoting a rapid, robust and chromatography-free method capable of monitoring safflower and turmeric adulteration in saffron. Results: The method proved to reach low LODs, allowing the determination of tiny amounts of turmeric and safflower powder in saffron as low as 3% and 5%, respectively, speeding up the whole analytical workflow and enabling us to perform 20 analyses in 10 min. Finally, the greenness of the method was also assessed according to the 0.88 score achieved by submitting it to the greenness calculator AGREE. Conclusions: Given its speed, simplicity, and robustness, this method stands out as a strong candidate for routine implementation in testing laboratories as a rapid screening tool to detect saffron adulteration with safflower or turmeric. Full article

Tourism plays an important role in the economic and social development of many countries and regions. Tourists buy food, such as canned food, alcohol, and spices, which increases the value of a trip, fulfilling a cultural, sentimental, educational, and marketing role whilst documenting the trip, or they become gifts for family and friends. However, spices may not be of the appropriate quality or may even be harmful to health due to contamination or adulteration. Therefore, the aim of the paper was to present spices as culinary souvenirs and to indicate some risks that may arise from their consumption. To date, only few such studies have been published in this area. A literature review was conducted and data from Eurostat, Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) and Web of Science were used. The most serious hazards in spices are pathogens, pesticides, and mycotoxins in products from Asia. Adequate awareness needs to be built among tourists and tour operators about where to buy spices that are risk-free and not adulterated. It will contribute to the development of sustainable food tourism. Further research may look at specific types of spices and where they are purchased highlighting the issue of authenticity and traceability. Full article

Background: Three aconitine poisoning events occurred in two Canadian provinces in 2022: one in British Columbia (BC) and two in Ontario (ON). Aconitine is a potent alkaloid found in several species of the plant Aconitum, containing cardiotoxins and neurotoxins. It is used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) for pain management, and in powdered form, Aconitum is similar in appearance to sand ginger (Kaempferia galanga), which can lead to poisonings from misidentification and mislabeling. Methods: Aconitine poisoning is rare in Canada; here, we compare communications, collaborations, laboratory testing options and actions during investigations. Results: Fourteen cases occurred from the consumption of sand ginger: in BC (n = 2), purchased at an Asian health food store; in ON (n = 11), Kaempferia galanga powder (KGP) spices were used to prepare meals at a restaurant, and in one ON case, KGP was purchased. Traceback found product imported from China contained aconitine levels ranging from 1304 to 5500 ppm. Later investigations revealed mislabeling of Aconitum as KGP from the same imported lot (January 2020). Plant DNA testing found no KGP in any spice packets, including lots not linked to illness, suggestive of adulteration. Conclusion: Method development for aconitine in BC led to an improved response time for testing in ON. BC and ON updated outbreak response protocols and communications. Full article

Fraudulent and adulterated food is produced mainly to reduce prices and attract consumers’ attention whilst threatening their economic interests, health, and safety. As such, this type of activity should be eliminated. This study’s aim was to identify the most common hazards related to food fraud and adulteration, reported in the Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) between 2000 and 2021, taking into account the product category (including individual products), country of origin, and notification type. We used Microsoft Excel (filtering, vertical-searching, transposition, and pivot table functions) and Statistica 13.3 (two-way joining cluster analysis) to analyse similarities between the hazards identified throughout the research period. Notifications relating to food fraud and adulteration accounted for 18.7% of all RASFF notifications, fluctuating between 1000 and 1200 per year in recent years. These mainly included hazards related to composition and novel foods in dietetic foods, food supplements and fortified foods, sulphites in fruits and vegetables, colours in cereals and bakery products, or Sudan in herbs and spices. Dietetic foods, dietary supplements, and fortified foods were mainly reported as alerts and information notifications, meaning that they were already available on the common European internal market. The other products originated mainly from outside the European Union (Asia—Turkey, Uzbekistan, India and Africa—Ghana, Nigeria) and were submitted on the basis of border rejections. Therefore, it is necessary to continue closely monitoring imported products at the EU border to ensure food safety, avoiding fraud and adulteration and protecting consumers’ financial interests. Full article

Saffron, renowned for its aroma and flavor, is susceptible to adulteration due to its high value and demand. Current detection methods, including ISO standards, often fail to identify specific adulterants such as safflower or turmeric up to 20% (w/w). Therefore, the quest continues for robust screening methods using advanced techniques to tackle this persistent challenge of safeguarding saffron quality and authenticity. Advanced techniques such as time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS), with its molecular specificity and high sensitivity, offer promising solutions. Samples of pure saffron and saffron adulterated with safflower and turmeric at three inclusion levels (5%, 10%, and 20%) were analyzed without prior treatment. Spectral analysis revealed distinct signatures for pure saffron, safflower, and turmeric. Through principal component analysis (PCA), TOF-SIMS effectively discriminated between pure saffron and saffron adulterated with turmeric and safflower at different inclusion levels. The variation between the groups is attributed to the characteristic peaks of safflower and the amino group peaks and mineral peaks of saffron. Additionally, a study was conducted to demonstrate that semi-quantification of the level of safflower inclusion can be achieved from the normalized values of its characteristic peaks in the saffron matrix. Full article

Herbal spices are an agricultural commodity, economically very important and beneficial in primary healthcare in the food and medicine sectors. Herbal spices are used as food flavoring agents as well as in phytotherapies throughout the world and have nutritive benefits. The food and medicine industries widely employ artificial or natural adulteration to retard the deterioration and utilization of these adulterants in food and medicine products has given rise to significant apprehension among consumers, primarily stemming from the potential health risks that they pose. Thus, their characterization for the purpose of identification, origin, and quality assurance is mandatory for safe human consumption. Here, we studied 22 samples of commonly traded herbal spices that belong to 20 different genera and 21 species comprising 14 families, investigated macroscopically or organoleptically as well as histologically under microscopic examination. In this study, we provide details on organoleptic features including appearance, taste, odor, color, shape, size, fractures, types of trichomes, and the presence of lenticels among the examined herbal spices and these features have great significance in the detection of both natural as well as artificial deterioration. In terms of microscopic characterization, each examined plant part comprising different anatomical characteristics has taxonomic importance and also provides useful information for authentication from natural adulterants. Furthermore, the studied taxa were also described with nutritive and therapeutic properties. For condiments, herbal beverages and medicinal purposes, different herbal parts such as leaves, floral buds, seeds, fruit, and accessory parts like mericarp, rhizome, bulbs, and bark were used and commercially traded. Similarly, in this study, the leaves of Cinnamomum tamala and Mentha spicata, the floral buds of Syzygium aromaticum, the seeds of Amomum subulatum, Brassica nigra, Punica granatum, Myristica fragrans, Phyllanthus emblica, and Elettaria cardamomum, the mericarp of Coriandrum sativum, and Cuminum cyminum were observed. As a result, we show the potential of herbal spices as a source of many valuable phytochemicals and essential nutrients for food, nutraceutical, and homoeopathic medicine. Full article

The high commercial value of saffron prompts attempts to adulterate this commodity. Thus, there is growing interest in fast and simple methods of identifying quality products. Color and aroma are the most appreciated characteristics of saffron that make this spice widely used. On these bases, we developed a multisensor approach to saffron quality identification based on VIS spectrometry and volatile compound detection. For scopes, a miniaturized spectrophotometer and an electronic nose were used to identify high-quality saffron with respect to less-valuable commercial products and adulterant agents. The outer product of the spectra and electronic nose patterns was demonstrated to be effective at clustering samples according to their purity. Full article

The aril and seed of nutmeg, Myristica fragrans Houtt. (Myristicaceae), hold significant value in various industries globally. Our preliminary research found two morphological variations: a globose shape and an oval shape. Due to these different characteristics, the safety of consumers is of primary concern. Thus, authentication and comparative pharmacological and toxicity analyses are necessary. In this study, pharmacognostic and advanced phytochemical analyses, DNA barcoding, cytotoxicity, and the anti-nitric oxide production of commercial Thai nutmeg were examined. Via morphologic examinations and TLC fingerprinting, all the sampled aril and seed were categorized into globose and oval-shaped groups. The results of HPLC, GC-MS, and LC-MS/MS experiments revealed distinct differences between these groups. The DNA barcoding of the trnH-psbA region using the BLAST method and neighbor-joining tree analyses confirmed the globose nutmeg as M. fragrans and the oval-shaped variant as M. argentea. A comparison was then carried out between the potential toxicity and anti-inflammatory capabilities of M. fragrans and M. argentea. Cytotoxicity tests on HaCaT, 3T3-L1, Caco-2, HEK293, and RAW264.7 were performed using both methanolic extracts and volatile oil from the arils and seeds of both species. This study concludes that blending or substituting these two species maintains their therapeutic integrity without posing safety concerns. Full article

Handly and easy-to-use optical instrumentation is very important for food safety monitoring, as it provides the possibility to assess law and health compliances at every stage of the food chain. In particular, the Surface-enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) method appears highly promising because the intrinsic drawback of Raman spectroscopy, i.e., the natural weakness of the effect and, in turn, of the signal, is overcome thanks to the peculiar interaction between laser light and plasmonic excitations at the SERS substrate. This fact paved the way for the widespread use of SERS sensing not only for food safety but also for biomedicine, pharmaceutical process analysis, forensic science, cultural heritage and more. However, the current technological maturity of the SERS technique does not find a counterpart in the recognition of SERS as a routine method in compliance protocols. This is mainly due to the very scattered landscape of SERS substrates designed and tailored specifically for the targeted analyte. In fact, a very large variety of SERS substrates were proposed for molecular sensing in different environments and matrices. This review presents the advantages and perspectives of SERS sensing in food safety. The focus of the survey is limited to specific analytes of interest for producers, consumers and stakeholders in Oltrepò Pavese, a definite regional area that is located within the district of Pavia in the northern part of Italy. Our attention has been addressed to (i) glyphosate in rice fields, (ii) histamine in a world-famous local product (wine), (iii) tetracycline, an antibiotic often detected in waste sludges that can be dangerous, for instance in maize crops and (iv) Sudan dyes—used as adulterants—in the production of saffron and other spices, which represent niche crops for Oltrepò. The review aims to highlight the SERS performance for each analyte, with a discussion of the different methods used to prepare SERS substrates and the different reported limits of detection. Full article

Due to a similar plant morphology in the majority of Zingiberaceae spices, substitution and adulteration frequently take place during the sales process. Therefore, it is important to analyze the metabolites and species classification of different Zingiberaceae spices. This study preliminarily explored the differences in the metabolites in thirteen Zingiberaceae spices through untargeted gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and combined spectroscopy, establishing models for classifying different Zingiberaceae spices. On one hand, a total of 81 metabolites were successfully identified by GC–MS. Thirty-seven differential metabolites were screened using variable important in projection (VIP ≥ 1). However, the orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) model established using GC–MS data only explained about 30% of the variation. On the other hand, the partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) models with three spectral data fusion strategies were compared, and their classification accuracy reached 100%. Among them, the mid-level data fusion model based on latent variables had the best performance. This study provides a powerful tool for distinguishing different Zingiberaceae spices and assists in reducing the occurrence of substitution and adulteration phenomena. Full article

There is a necessity to protect the quality and authenticity of herbs and spices because of the increase in the fraud and adulteration incidence during the last 30 years. There are several aspects that make herbs and spices quite vulnerable to fraud and adulteration, including their positive and desirable sensorial and health-related properties, the form in which they are sold, which is mostly powdered, and their economic relevance around the world, even in developing countries. For these reasons, sensitive, rapid, and reliable techniques are needed to verify the authenticity of these agri-food products and implement effective adulteration prevention measures. This review highlights why spices and herbs are highly valued ingredients, their economic importance, and the official quality schemes to protect their quality and authenticity. In addition to this, the type of frauds that can take place with spices and herbs have been disclosed, and the fraud incidence and an overview of scientific articles related to fraud and adulteration based on the Rapid Alert System Feed and Food (RASFF) and the Web of Science databases, respectively, during the last 30 years, is carried out here. Next, the methods used to detect adulterants in spices and herbs are reviewed, with DNA-based techniques and mainly spectroscopy and image analysis methods being the most recommended. Finally, the available adulteration prevention measurements for spices and herbs are presented, and future perspectives are also discussed. Full article