Traceability of Protected Geographical Indication (PGI) Interdonato lemon pulps by chemometric analysis of the mineral composition

In the last years, element content has been used as geographical tracer to determine the provenance of food. In the present work the content of 19 minerals (K, Ca, Mg, Na, Fe, Zn, B, Cu, Al, Mn, Ni, Cr, Pb, Co, As, Se, Cd, Sb and V) and 13 lanthanide elements (La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm and Lu) in Protect Geographical Indication (PGI) Interdonato lemon Messina (Italy) and non-PGI Turkish lemon pulps was evaluated by ICP-MS. The collected data were used to discriminate geographical origin of lemon samples (PGI or non-PGI) through statistical analyses. The discrimination between Italian and Turkish lemons was achieved by Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and also by Canonical Discriminant Analysis (CDA). The results indicate that the 100% of total samples were correctly classified. The present study suggests that it is possible to relate lemons to their geographical origins, representing a necessary condition for traceability of these peculiar products. Unfortunately, Italian and Turkish lemon pulps cannot be considered “rich in” or “source of” analyzed minerals. However, these fruits can be considered safe for their low content in toxic elements.