Classification of Argentine citrus using Nuclear Magnetic Resonance and Multivariate Data Analysis

MARIO O. SALAZAR

Rosario

Simposio; Latin American Metabolic Profiling Simposium; 2016

Citrus in Argentina is first in importance within the national fruit production and generates an important source of revenue both domestic and international trade. This has allowed Argentina to stand out among the top ten producers of citrus in the world and the leading exporter of lemon.1 Within the genus Citrus, the orange (Citrus sinnensis Osbeck) represents the largest area followed by lemons, tangerines and grapefruits. Macroscopic differentiation of citrus is simple in some cases, but in others it is necessary to have qualified people (e.g.: edible and ornamental oranges). One of the most significant current issues that are presented to the national control institution (e.g.: SENASA) is determining the geographical origin of citrus. Their traceability is vital since the production area is directly related to its organoleptic characteristics and thus the acceptability of consumers impacts their commercial value.The nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) coupled with principal component analysis (PCA) 2 is a useful tool for analyzing / sorting food (wine, oil, etc.).3 This methodology has been used in the citrus analysis worldwide, but so far it has not been conducted with products in our territory.4Oranges were obtained from different areas of our country and their juice was processed in our lab. Subsequently, NMR spectra (NOESYPR1D) were generated. They were exported in MATLAB format supported by ad hoc routines for processing by PCA algorithms. From the analysis of juice chemical profile we managed to clearly differentiate between different Citrus species and varieties of the species C. sinnensis. In addition, the algorithm could distinguish edible oranges with different degrees of maturation and packaged juice. Finally, the application of this tool allowed us to discriminate juice from different production areas (Entre Rios versus Buenos Aires) and represents the most important result. REFERENCES1.Departamento de Estudios Económicos, Economías Regionales Confederación Argentina de la Mediana Empresa (CAME). 2015.2.Lindon, J. C., Nicholson,J. K., Holmes, E., Everett, J. R. Concepts Magn. Reson., 2000, 12, 289-320.3.Cevallos-Cevallos, J.M.; Reyes-De-Corcuera, J.I.; Etxeberria , E.; Danyluk, M.D.; Rodrick, G.E. Trends in Food Science & Technology. 2009, 20557-5664.Spraul, M.; Schütz, B.; Rinke, P.; Koswi, S.; Humpfer, E.; Schäfer, H.; Mörtter, M.; Fang, F.; Marx, U.; Minoja, A. Nutrients, 2009, 1, 148-155.