Agri-food traceability

Scientific research promoted by the “Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano Alto Adige” within the “NOI Capacity building I and II” funding frame, in collaboration with Laimburg Research Centre and Eco-research srl.

An analytical method able to measure the strontium isotope (87Sr/86Sr) ratio in agri-food (case study on apples) was developed and applied to:

  • check the link between the plant and the soil analysing their 87Sr/86Sr ratios;
  • verify if Sr coming from agricultural practices significantly affect the 87Sr/86Sr of plants;
  • define the variability of the 87Sr/86Sr ratio intra- and inter-tree and its correlation with the soil 87Sr/86Sr ratio;
  • describe the Italian PGI and PDO apple production according to their 87Sr/86Sr ratio in comparison with non-GI apples.

The developed method, combined with multielement and light element isotope ratio analysis, has been further applied to characterize fruit, cereal and woody samples of different provenance.