Hazelnut products traceability through Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry approach

The geographical origin of hazelnuts products is nowadays a relevant aspect of high-quality food characterization. Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS) could play a key role in origin discrimination. The present study aims to assess the geographical provenience of Italian roasted hazelnuts and paste of hazelnuts, by analysing relative isotopic ratios of carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, through Elemental Analyzer – and Thermal Conversion – Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry. Method development is performed by evaluating test samples repeatability, considering 15 replicates measurements on the same day, reproducibility, considering 30 replicates measurements on two different days, and robustness, considering 30 replicates measurements, varying mass parameter. Preliminary outcomes highlight reproducible and robust results, having acceptable standard deviation values (from 0.07 to 0.3). One-way ANOVA test demonstrates a significant statistical difference between Italian and Georgian hazelnut test samples (ca. 1 δ of difference). A Design of Experiment, for training and validation sets building, is prepared, taking into account factors as harvesting year, variety, processing, and percentage of the peel. A total of n=30 processed hazelnuts lots, from Italy, Turkey, Georgia, and Azerbaijan, are going to be analysed for origin evaluation. Despite further analysis are still in progress, this strategy could potentially be the election method for a lot of food chain traceability since food isotopic abundances reflect ground and climate-related features, typical of precise locations. Moreover, this approach consists of limited or even inexistent sample preparation and provides for high sensitivity.