Improved organic and pesticide-free rice (Oryza sativa L.) authentication based on multiple stable isotope ratio analysis and rice milling state

This study looked at the application of multiple bulk stable isotope ratio analysis to accurately authenticate organic rice and counteract organic fraud within the expanding global organic market. Variations of delta 13C, delta 15N, delta 18O, and delta 34S in organic, pesticide-free, and conventional rice were assessed across different milling states (brown, milled, and bran). Individual stable isotope ratio alone such as delta 15N demonstrated limited capacity to correctly differentiate organic, pesticide-free, and conventional rice. A support vector machine model-incorporating delta 13C, delta 15N, delta 18O, and delta 34S in milled rice-yielded overall predictability (95%) in distinguishing organic, pesticide-free, and conventional rice, where delta 18O emerged as the pivotal variable based on the feature weights in the SVM model. These findings suggest the potential of multi-isotope and advanced statistical approaches in combating organic fraud and ensuring authenticity in the food supply chain.