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.