Review

Received: 24 December 2016 Revised: 23 March 2017 Accepted article published: 10 April 2017 Published online in Wiley Online Library:

(wileyonlinelibrary.com) DOI 10.1002/jsfa.8364

Modern analytical methods for the detection of

food fraud and adulteration by food category
Eunyoung Hong,a Sang Yoo Lee,a Jae Yun Jeong,b,c Jung Min Park,b,c
Byung Hee Kim,d Kisung Kwone and Hyang Sook Chuna*

Abstract
This review provides current information on the analytical methods used to identify food adulteration in the six most adulterated
food categories: animal origin and seafood, oils and fats, beverages, spices and sweet foods (e.g. honey), grain-based food, and
others (organic food and dietary supplements). The analytical techniques (both conventional and emerging) used to identify
adulteration in these six food categories involve sensory, physicochemical, DNA-based, chromatographic and spectroscopic
methods, and have been combined with chemometrics, making these techniques more convenient and effective for the analysis
of a broad variety of food products. Despite recent advances, the need remains for suitably sensitive and widely applicable
methodologies that encompass all the various aspects of food adulteration.
© 2017 Society of Chemical Industry

Keywords: food authentication; adulteration; fraud; food categories; analytical methods; geographical origin

INTRODUCTION protection and food safety, food researchers have engaged in

Food adulteration and fraud are by no means contemporary phe-
nomena and are likely to be as old as the manufacturing of
food. Public awareness of these issues is growing, including the
more specific subcategory of economically motivated adulter-
ation, which can involve serious public health risks. The key char-
acteristics of food fraud are non-compliance with food laws and/or
misleading the consumer, intentional fraud, and the purpose of
financial gain. Food authentication is an important means for
ensuring food safety, food quality and consumer protection, as
well as for compliance with national legislation, international stan-
dards, and other guidelines.1
With an increasing number of food product recalls per year and
a recent string of adulteration incidents that resulted in serious
economic and health costs,2 the issue of food fraud has become
more sinister with increased destructive potential in a globalized
food supply chain. Many product ingredients are derived from
other countries, both as individually sourced products and ingredi-
ents made by individual food companies and as internally sourced
products within a multinational company. It can be difficult to
detect and trace the source of unintentional contamination and
related food safety concerns and even more difficult to detect
and trace back instances of intentional product fraud, especially
in highly processed foods with inputs from multiple suppliers.
Authenticity has consequently become a major concern for all
parties involved in the food industry, such as farmers, producers,
suppliers, retailers, consumers and regulators, at all levels of the
production and distribution process, from raw materials to finished
products. From the legislative point of view, quality standards have
been established, including quality labels that specify the major
components of each product. From the economic point of view,
product authentication is essential to avoid unfair competition
that can destabilize the market and disrupt not only regional,
but even national economies. With this imperative for consumer
the research and development of rapid and accurate analytical
techniques for food adulteration and fraud.
Recently, focus of food fraud prevention has changed from
assessing the exposure to danger (risk) itself toward assessing
the possibility of the risk (vulnerability). Many traditional food risk
assessment tools are not holistically applicable for trying to quan-
tify or predict food fraud incidents. Analysis of historical incidents
and changes in the underlying fraud opportunity factors is impor-
tant to reduce vulnerability of food fraud. Risk analysis, vulnerabil-
ity assessments and prioritization will facilitate a strategy that is
proactive and can prevent food fraud before it occurs.
This comprehensive review documents food adulteration and
fraud events in several categories of food products, describes
the common characteristics of incidents that have allowed the
adulteration and its detection, and encourages the strengthening
of our capabilities for the detection of adulteration in a globalized
food environment.
∗ Correspondence to: HS Chun, Department of Food Science and Technology,
Chung-Ang University, Ansung-si, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea.
E-mail: hschun@cau.ac.kr
a Advanced Food Safety Research Group, BK21 Plus, School of Food Science and
Technology, Chung-Ang University, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
b Science and Technology Management Policy, University of Science & Technol-
ogy, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
c R&D Strategy, Korea Food Research Institute, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
d Department of Food Science and Nutrition, Sookmyung Women’s University,
Seoul, Republic of Korea
e New Hazardous Substances Team, National Institute of Food and Drug Safety
Evaluation, Chungcheongbuk-do, Republic of Korea

J Sci Food Agric (2017) www.soci.org © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry


1200
PCR MS
HPLC LC
1000 IR IR-MS
ELISA Biosensor
Number of cases reported
800
600
400
200
0
Milk and dairy Meat and Fish and
products meat products sea food
Animal origin food and seafood
Figure 1. Major technologies for the detection of food fraud, as reported in the literature from 2005 to 2015.
ADULTERATED FOOD CATEGORIES AND
ANALYTICAL METHODS IN THE LITERATURE
In general, foods and food ingredients commonly associated with
food fraud include oil, fish, honey, milk and dairy products, meat
products, grain-based foods, fruit juices, wine and alcoholic bev-
erages, organic foods, spices, coffee, tea, and some highly pro-
cessed foods. It is not known conclusively how extensive food
fraud is worldwide. Previous reviews focused mainly on the ana-
lytical methods that were based on techniques for detecting adul-
teration in specific foods and food products. However, there are
few systematic reviews on the analytical methods utilized for each
category of adulterated food.
Trends in analytical methods used in the detection of food
fraud were investigated by a keyword search of the literature. This
study used the Thomson Innovation literature search tool (Web of
Science; WoS) to analyze quantitatively research trends related to
technologies for detecting food fraud. The literature for the period
1995–2015 was searched using the formula: [(food*) AND (fraud*
or adultera* or misbrand* or authentic* or nonauthentic* or ‘non
authentic*’ or ‘food crime’ or forensic* or ‘geographical*origin*’)].
In total, 2614 publications relating to food fraud were collected as
valid results and were analyzed in terms of food categories and
types of detection technology.
Many techniques have been used to detect adulteration and
fraud in food: chromatographic analysis [thin layer chromatog-
raphy (TLC), high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC),
gas chromatography (GC)], mass spectrometry (MS)-based
methods [liquid chromatography(LC)-MS/MS, GC/MSD], elec-
trophoretic methods [sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide
gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), polymerase chain reaction (PCR),
PCR-restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP), random
amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), amplified fragment length
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www.soci.org E Hong et al.
NMR
GC
Raman
Oils and fats Fruit juice Coffee and Alcoholic Spices Sweetners Grain-based Organic foods Dietary
tea beverages foods supplements
Beverages Spices and sweetness Others
Food category
polymorphism (AFLP), simple sequence repeats (SSR)], spectro-
scopic methods [infrared (IR), near infrared (NIR), mid-infrared
(MIR), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), Raman, nuclear magnetic
resonance (NMR), site-specific natural isotope fractionation
(SNIF)-NMR, inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission
spectrometer (ICP-AES)] and immunoassays [enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assay (ELISA)] (Fig. 1).
The food categories with a high incidence of adulteration in
the literature search were milk and milk products, meat and meat
products, fish and seafood, oils and fats, fruit juice, coffee and
tea, alcoholic beverages, spices and extracts, sweeteners (includ-
ing honey), cereals and pulses, and organic foods. These food
categories were regrouped into six categories: ‘animal origin and
seafood’ for milk and dairy products, meat and meat products, and
fish and seafood; ‘oils and fats’; ‘beverages’ for fruit juice, coffee and
tea, and alcoholic beverages; ‘spices and sweeteners’ for spices and
extracts, and sweeteners; ‘grain-based food’ for cereals and pulses;
and ‘others’ for organic food and dietary supplements. A broad
range of analytical methods to detect food adulteration has been
reported.
Detection methods were ranked according to their number of
uses in the literature. MS accounted for the largest proportion
at 20.6%; PCR for 18.5% and LC for 11.6%. MS also accounted
for the greatest proportion in Asian countries and South Korea
(20.7% and 38.1%, respectively). A notable observation is that
MS is used extensively in most food categories, and is also the
most frequently used method in the analysis of spices, extracts,
cereals, grains and pulses. However, LC and GC are also used to
a significant degree for spices, oils and organic foods. NMR is
used frequently to discriminate the authenticity of oils, cereals,
grains, alcoholic beverages and fruit juices. PCR is the predominant
detection technology used for the food categories of meat and
meat products, fish and seafood, and milk and milk products. In
© 2017 Society of Chemical Industry J Sci Food Agric (2017)
Adulterated food categories and their analytical methods
addition to MS, HPLC and LC are often used for fruits, fruit juices
and sweeteners. IR spectroscopy, Raman, immunosorbent assays
(e.g. ELISA), and biosensors are used less compared to the other
detection methods.
AUTHENTICATION AND ADULTERATION BY
FOOD CATEGORY
Animal origin of food and seafood
Milk and dairy products
Milk is a fairly expensive raw material, and therefore, from an
economic point of view it has been attractive to replace part of it
with other dairy or non-dairy ingredients.3 Species identification of
milk (buffalo’s, cow’s, goat’s and sheep’s milk) and dairy products
(cheese, butter and milk powder) is important in determining
food composition, traceability, allergic pathologies and accurate
consumer information.
A common adulteration of dairy products is the substitution
of expensive high-quality milk with cheaper and lower quality
milk from other species.4 Many different analytical methods are
available for the identification of the species of origin for milk
and dairy products, which include immunological, electrophoretic
and chromatographic techniques. However, immunological and
electrophoretic methods are not always capable of distinguishing
milk from closely-related species in food products with complex
matrices and are also significantly less sensitive with heat-treated
material. Additionally, chromatographic methods are difficult to
apply to everyday use when sample numbers are large.5 More
recently, DNA-based methods such as real-time PCR, multiplex
PCR, PCR-RFLP and species-specific PCR have been successfully
applied to identifying the origin of milk species in dairy products,
DNA is sufficiently stable to withstand different chemical treat-
ments and high temperatures, and small quantities of DNA can be
detected using species-specific primers.4,6 – 8 Recently, high reso-
lution melting (HRM) analysis has proved to be a powerful, fast
and accurate technique that is cheaper and simpler than alterna-
tive approaches requiring post-PCR processing, enzyme restriction
and electrophoresis, labeled probes for single nucleotide polymor-
phism detection sequencing, or TaqMan-probe based real-time
PCR.9 HRM was shown to be capable of identifying the presence
of cow’s milk down to 1.0 g kg−1 in putative Feta and could quan-
tify the range of a mixture with sheep’s and goat’s milk in different
Feta cheese commercial products.7
The discrimination of geographical origin to guard the pro-
tected designation of origin (PDO) and avoid fraudulent label-
ing of milk and dairy products has been mostly studied using
multi-element and multi-isotope-ratio analysis with isotope-ratio
mass spectrometry (IRMS), inductively coupled plasma mass spec-
trometry (ICP-MS) and ICP-AES.10,11 The results have demonstrated
that stable isotope ratios of C, N, O, S and Sr of milk and cheese were
linked to their territories of origin, as a result of variations in the
type of vegetation and the environment.12 Additionally, the prod-
uct origin of dairy products has been studied using metabolite
fingerprinting techniques involving NMR and FTIR.10,13 – 15 Accu-
rate determination of geographical origin for dairy products seems
feasible when multi-analytical approaches, such as metabolomics
combined with chemometrics, are studied.
Milk and dairy products can also be adulterated by adding other
products such as whey, starch, non-milk fat, water, vegetable
proteins, vegetable oil, lard, margarine, hydrogen peroxide,
melamine, artificial flavor and synthetic triacylglycerols. For their
detection, several analytical techniques can be applied.16 – 20
J Sci Food Agric (2017) © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry
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Table 1 details the different detection methods applied to a range
of milk and dairy products. The authenticity of butter depends on
confirmation that the lipid content is cow’s milk fat. The adulter-
ation of butterfat can be detected through the characterization
of the fatty acids by GC analysis. Also, the rapidity and low sam-
ple preparation needs of spectroscopic techniques such as NIR,
FTIR, attenuated total reflectance (ATR)-MIR and Raman made
themselves suitable for in-factory quality control, which could be
carried out by non-technical personnel.21 Melamine can be used
to spuriously raise estimated protein levels in diluted milk and
it caused serious health risks for consumers in 2008.22 Recently,
a simple, precise, accurate, and validated reverse-phase HPLC
method was developed for the determination of melamine in
300 samples of milk (pasteurized and ultra-high temperature
processed milk) and dairy products (infant formula milk powder,
yogurt and cheese).23
Meat and meat products
Recently, interest in meat authenticity has increased. Many con-
sumers are aware of the importance of origin, accurate labeling
and ingredients to avoid the adulteration of meat and meat prod-
ucts. This review provides an overview of the possible analytical
methods used for the authentication of meat and meat products
(Table 1). Authentication problems with respect to meat and meat
products are grouped into four major categories: meat species,
meat processing treatment (cooked meat and fresh versus thawed
meat), meat geographic origin and non-meat ingredient addition
(additives and water).
The most common methodologies used to determine the
authenticity of meat and meat products are unquestionably
DNA-based techniques: real-time PCR, multiplex PCR and
species-specific PCR. A frequent adulteration of meat prod-
ucts is the addition of pork to beef products, which is carried
out for economic gain. Particularly for minced and homogenized
meat products, the development of a method to identify species
is an important authenticity issue.24 On 15 January 2013, the Food
Safety Authority of Ireland published a press release identifying
horse and donkey DNA in (minced) beef products including
burgers, beef sausage and meat balls using real-time PCR.25,26
The majority of results with horse meat reported to date appear
to have been represented as percentage DNA in extracted DNA
rather than as percentage horsed meat in the sample. The PCR
amplification of pork mitochondrial genes (12S and 18Sribosomal
RNA subunits and cytochrome b) and the displacement loop
region (D-loop) was successfully applied for the identification
of pork derivatives and was found to be a suitable technique
for routine food analysis and halal certification.27,28 In addition,
multiplex PCR can be used to differentiate turkey, ostrich, chicken
and duck in poultry meat mixtures.29
Game meat is often a target for fraudulent labeling as a result
of the high commercial value associated with its products. The
PCR-RFLP technique has been successfully used to discriminate
game species such as red deer, fallow deer, roe deer, cattle,
sheep and goat.30 – 32 Identification of chicken and turkey in
goose and mule duck foie gras by species-specific PCR has been
reported.33 Analytical methods including chromatography and
spectroscopy can reveal other animal meat (chicken, lamb, goat
and deer) in beef.34,35
The integrity of DNA-based methods may be severely affected
by meat handling such as cooking and processing. It was
reported that meat cooked at high temperatures resulted in
an overall low yield of DNA.36 Accordingly, a species-specific
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Table 1. Methods to assess the authenticity of animal origin in food and seafood
Food category
Milk and dairy products
Milk and milk powder
Cheese
Butter (animal fat)
Milk, milk powder, infant
formula powder, cheese,
butter, yoghurt
Meat and meat products
Raw minced meat (beef,
pork, chicken, turkey,
duck, goose, pheasant,
ostrich, lamb, horse, goat,
dog, deer, rabbit, cat, red
kangaroo, Korean water
deer) and processed meat
(jerky, pressed ham,
sausage, hamburger petty
and steak, minced rib,
nuggets, cutlet, meat ball)
Game meat
(red deer, fallow deer, roe
deer, chamois, steinbock,
mouflon, pyrenean ibex)
Fois gras
Beef
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Adulterant Target marker Detection technology Reference
Different milk species SSR, cytochrome b Species-specific PCR, 5
(cow’s, sheep’s and buffalo’s PCR-RFLP
milk)
12S rRNA Real-time TaqMan PCR 7
Different geographical origins 1 H NMR spectra, 1 H NMR, ICP-AES, IRMS with 11
(Italy) Multi-element composition, PCA
13 C/12 C, 15 N/14 N
Water, starch, sodium citrate, MIR spectra ATR-MIR with PLS-DA 17
hydrogen peroxide, sucrose
Soy, brown rice, pea and Chromatographic profiles UHPLC-UV with PCA, SIMCA 18
hydrolyzed wheat protein
Different milk species D-loop, tRNALys Real-time PCR, HRM analysis 8
(cow’s, sheep’s and goat’s milk)
Different geographical origins 𝛿 13 Ccasein, 𝛿 15 Ncasein , IRMS, ICP-OES, ICP-MS with 12
(alpine versus pre-alpine Italy) 𝛿 18 glycerol , 𝛿 34 Scasein , CDA
Multi-element composition
Ripening time (hard, semi-hard), ATR-FTIR spectra ATR-FTIR with LDA 16
manufacturing technique
(fossa, non-fossa)
Vegetable oils (palm oil, palm Fatty acid profiles, GC-FID, GC-MS with PCA 19
olein oil), refined sugar, starch, Phytosterol
flour, emulsifier, refined salt,
citric acid
Different geographical origins FTIR spectra FTIR with PCA, PLS 15
(Morocco)
Vegetable oils (palm kernel, bean, C4:0 fatty acid, GC-FID, NIR 20
sunflower, and linseed oil), fish 21
NIR spectra
oil
Synthetic triacylglycerols 13 C NMR spectra, 13 C NMR, MALDI-TOF-MS 22
MALDI-TOF mass spectra
Different milk species Species-specific mtDNA Multiplex PCR 9
(cow’s, sheep’s, goat’s and
buffalo’s milk)
Melamine Melamine RP-HPLC-PAD 23
Horse, donkey Cytochrome b Real-time PCR 25 26
Pork D-loop, 18S rRNA TaqMan real-time PCR, 27
direct real-time LAMP 28
Duck Cytochrome b, 18S rRNA Multiplex PCR 29
30
Different meat species 12S rRNA T-RFLP
(pig, dog, cattle, goat, sheep,
horse, chicken, deer, buffalo,
turkey)
Domestic species Cytochrome b, Multiplex PCR 31
(buffalo, sheep, goat, cattle,
swine)
12S rRNA PCR-RFLP, Lab-on-a-chip 32
Goose, mule duck, chicken, 12S rRNA Species-specific PCR 33
turkey, swine
Different geographical origins 1 H NMR spectra NMR 40
(Korea, Australia, New Zealand,
United states)
(Ireland, Brazil, USA, other 13 C/12 C, 15 N/14 N IRMS 41
European)
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Table 1. continued

Food category Adulterant Target marker Detection technology Reference

Chicken (broilers) Different geographical Multi-element composition ICP-MS 42

origins (Brazil, France,
Germany, Hungary,
Switzerland)
Pork Thawed pork NMR parameter, Structure of LF-NMR with PCA, 44
muscle cells light microscopy
Thawed chicken Vis/NIR spectra, Vis/NIR 45

Beef, pork, chicken or complex Soybean proteins UV-spectra RP-HPLC-UV 46

mixture meat products

Fish and seafood products

Thunnus (bigeye tuna, yellowfin Skipjack, eastern little tuna, Cytochrome b, D-loop, 16S PCR-RFLP, real-time PCR 58
tuna, albacore, bluefin tuna) frigate mackerel, oriental rRNA
bonito
Caviar (Sturgeon species) Paddlefish species Cytochrome b, 1 H NMR PCR-RFLP, 1 H NMR 59 61
spectra
Gadoids (Atlantic cod) Alaska pollock, poor cod, Cytochrome b, 12S and 16S PCR-RFLP, FINS 60
blue whiting, blue ling, rRNA
greater forkbeard
Flatfishes (Sole, flounder, megrim, Greenland halibut 12S rRNA PCR-RFLP 62
turbot)
Eels (European eel) American eel, Japanese eel, Cytochrome b PCR-RFLP, PCR-SSCP 63
shortfin eel
Clams (grooved carpet shell) Pullet carpet shell 𝛼-actin PCR-SSCP 64

Salmonids Trout, pink salmon Cytochrome b, parvalbumin, PCR-SSCP 65

growth hormone
Cytochrome b, COI DNA Multiplex PCR, real-time PCR 66

Grouper Neil perch, wreck fish 5S rRNA Multiplex PCR 68

Cephalopods (Loliginidaespecies) Ommastrephidae species Cytochrome b PCR-RFLP, FINS 67

Mussels (Mytilusspecies) Perna, Aulacomya, 18S rDNA, ITS1, adhesive PCR-RFLP, FINS, multiplex 70
Semimytilus, Perumytilus, protein PCR
Choromytilus and
Brachidontes species

PCR assay was developed for the authentication of goat meat,
with a sensitivity of 1.0 g kg−1 for detection of adulteration.37
It has also been demonstrated that good quality DNA could
be extracted from cooked meat prepared by boiling, roasting,
pressure cooking or pan frying,38,39 indicating the applicability
of the PCR approach for surveillance where prepared food is
sold.
Moreover, proper labeling of meat products is important for
ensuring fair-trading and enabling consumers to make informed
choices. Meat products, particularly protected geographical
indication (PGI) products of selected breeds produced in a par-
ticular area, have higher value in the market. Determination of
geographic origin has been performed with varying degrees
of success, and the accuracy might be improved by combining
different approaches.40 – 42 However, when PDO and PGI state-
ments are to be verified, an accurate link to a specific origin only
appears to be feasible when a combination of parameters and
multivariate statistics are applied. Among the methods that are
employed is NMR coupled with pattern recognition techniques,
which has been used to investigate the geographical origin of
meat.40 Different investigations indicate that incorrect labeling,
where thawed meat was labeled as fresh meat, is present in
8–15% of analyzed samples.43 The effects of freezing, thawing
and cooking on the water distribution in pork of two qualities
(normal and high ultimate pH) and in chicken were successfully
assessed using low-field NMR, light microscopy and visible/NIR
spectroscopy.44,45 Furthermore, vegetable protein such as soy
protein used in the fraudulent substitution of animal protein can
be frequently detected by RP-HPLC methods.46
Fish and seafood
Forms of fish and seafood fraud include intentionally increasing
the product weight and using illegal additives in production.
Methods to increase weight include adding excess water to
frozen product (overglazing), soaking products such as scal-
lops in sodium tripolyphosphate so that they retain water and
overbreading.47 For example, frozen breaded shrimp must be at
least 500 g kg−1 shrimp by Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
standards. Overbreading may cause consumers to pay shrimp
prices for excess bread crumbs. The differentiation between
fresh and frozen-thawed shrimp has been successfully evaluated
by visible/NIR spectroscopy with chemometricmethods.48 The
fundamental advantage of NIR applications is that damage to the
commercial product can be avoided.
A frequent form of seafood fraud perpetrated for the purpose of
economic gain is species substitution.49 Market surveys in Europe
and North America have reported mislabeling of seafood species
at levels of 15–43% with an exceptionally high level of 75% for red
snapper products.50 – 55 Therefore, the development of analytical
methods for species identification is necessary to detect and

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Table 2. Methods to assess the authenticity of oils and fats

Food category Adulterant Target marker Detection technology Reference

Virgin olive oil Pomace oil NIR, FTIR, FT-Raman spectra NIR, FTIR, FT-Raman with PLS 79

Refined olive oil,Lampante 31 P NMR spectra 31 P NMR with one-way 80

olive oil ANOVA, HCA, DA
Vegetable oil (canola, Raman spectra Raman with PLS, 81
corn, flaxseed, grape Bay-LS-SVM,
seed, peanut, rapeseed, Fatty acid, FTIR spectra GC-FID, FTIR with PLS, PCR, 82
safflower, sesame, LDA
soybean, sunflower, rice 83
ATR-FTIR spectra ATR-FTIR with PCA, PLS,
bran and walnut oil)
PLS-DA
Hazelnut oil 1 H NMR spectra 1 H NMR MIR spectra with 84
PLS
Vegetable oils (canola, 1 H NMR spectra, GC-MS 1 H NMR, GC-MS with PCA, 85
palm, corn, soybean, chromatograms PLS-DA, OPLS-DA, PLS
sunflower, rice brain,
peanut and coconut oil)
and fats (chicken fat,
lard, mutton tallow,
beef tallow)
Geographical origin (Italy) NMR spectra NIR, MIR NMR with PCA NIR, MIR with 86 87
Sabina versus other spectra PLS-DA, SIMCA
areas of Italy or
Mediterranean
countries
Geographical origin 1 H and 31 P NMR spectra 1 H and 31 P NMR with CDA, 88
(Greek) Koroneiki versus CBTs
Crete, Peloponnesus
Geographical origin GC-MS spectra, Six volatile HS-SPME/GC, GC-MS with 89
(Spain) Discrimination compounds PCA, LDA, SLDA
of Andalusia, La Rioja,
and Catalonia
Sesame oil Corn, soybean, sunflower, 𝛿 13 C, 𝛿 2 H, 𝛿 18 O, 1 H NMR IRMS, 1 H NMR, GC-FID with 91
perilla, cottonseed, spectra, Fatty acid OPLS-DA
canola oil
Other geographical origin Lignan HPLC-UV 92
(Korea versus China, 𝛿 13 C, 𝛿 2 H, 𝛿 18 O values IRMS with CDA 93
India)
Coconut oil Corn, sunflower, olive, FTIR spectra FTIR with PLS 94
palm oil
Lard Radial plots of GC-SAW, FTIR Fast GC-SAW, FTIR with 95
spectra PLS-DA
Mustard oil Argemone oil Sanguinarine HPTLC 96

Cod-liver oil Lard FTIR spectra FTIR with PLS 97

deter willful, as well as unintentional, substitution and to enforce
labeling regulations.56
Species identification of fish and seafood products is difficult
because the morphological features that can usually be identi-
fied have been removed during processing steps such as cook-
ing, smoking, salting and canning.54 Additionally, most of them
are heat labile. For the identification of fish and seafood species
in heat-processed products, a DNA method rather than protein
analysis is preferable.57 Protein-based methods are generally reli-
able for testing fresh or lightly processed seafood, although they
become impractical in heavily processed foods where proteins are
degraded. This part of the review will be limited to discussing the
PCR-based methods for the authentication of numerous species
of fish and seafood (Table 1). The identification of fish species in
tinned tuna and sardine cans has been successfully carried out
using PCR analysis.58,59 In particular, there is a need to detect fraud
related to sturgeon caviar, one of the most exclusive and expensive
fishery products, and PCR-RFLP analysis provided a powerful and
easy method for the identification of mislabeled caviar.60 Recently,
metabolic characterization of caviar specimens (n = 91) by 1 H NMR
spectroscopy with multivariate statistical models [Soft Indepen-
dent Modeling by Class Analogy; SIMCA and orthogonal partial
least square discriminant analysis (PLS-DA)] has been performed.61
The NMR metabolic profile could be used to provide the estima-
tion of the freshness and origination of caviar sample. PCR-RFLP
can also be used to identify the gadoids such as Atlantic cod
and flatfish species (sole, flounder, megrim, turbot, etc.) present
in an extensive range of commercial products.62,63 More recently,
PCR-single stranded conformational polymorphism (SSCP) assays
have been developed that allow the identification of various fish
and seafood such as salmonids, eels and clams.64 – 66 SSCP anal-
ysis has also been used for species identification of fishery prod-
ucts as a rapid and low-cost alternative to RFLP. Species-specific
multiplex PCR allows for the simultaneous and rapid identification
of multiple species in a single PCR tube, including mixed species
and heavily processed samples, and can be applied to both con-
ventional and real-time PCR. The development of such a method
for salmon and grouper species identification would have several

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Adulterated food categories and their analytical methods
advantages.67,68 Forensically informative nucleotide sequencing
(FINS) is a PCR-related technique that is useful for the identifica-
tion of cephalopod (Loligospecies versus Family Ommastrephidae)
and mussel species.69,70
Although genetic techniques have been extensively researched
for certain fish and seafood groups, many challenges remain. In
the near future, emerging techniques, such as microarray and
next-generation sequencing, may provide high-throughput and
automated platforms for DNA analysis that can be applied to the
regulatory screening of fish or seafood products.71 Furthermore,
DNA barcoding was confirmed to be particularly effective in the
traceability of fish and seafood products.72 To date, more than
70 000 barcode sequences from 8300 species (26% of the total)
have been stored in the framework of an international collabora-
tive research: the Fish Barcode of Life Initiative (FISH-BOL; www
.fishbol.org). However, more extensive studies are required to con-
firm the potential use of this technique for all kinds of seafood as a
reliable ‘traceability tool’.73
Oils and fats
Edible oils and fats, including salad and cooking oils, margarine,
shortening and butter, are classified as the foods most frequently
counterfeited and with the most sophisticated fraud.74 There are
two major adulterations in edible oils and fats: admixing a cold
press oil with a refined one and replacing more expensive oils and
fats with cheaper ones.75
Several analytical techniques have been applied to detect adul-
teration or confirm authentication for the botanical origin of a veg-
etable oil admixture. The suggested approach to the issue can be
summarized as the combination of a two-step analytical methods.
Screening methods employ fingerprinting spectroscopic methods
such as FTIR and Raman spectroscopy where the composition of
the majority of the oil mixtures is expected to be correctly identi-
fied. Confirmation methods such as fatty acid profile using GC-MS
can be followed based on reliable validated routine analytical
methods.76
Olive oil, especially, is an attractive target for economically moti-
vated adulteration because of its high demand and potential profit
margin. Virgin olive oil has been adulterated with lower grades
of olive oil (refined or pomace olive oil) and other cheaper veg-
etable oils (e.g. hazelnut, sunflower, soybean, cotton, corn, walnut
and canola oil).77 The chemical composition of the olive oils varies
widely depending on fruit variety, degree of fruit ripeness, environ-
mental conditions, growing region, and techniques of processing
and storage. These properties are related not only to the fatty acid
composition of its lipid matrix, but also especially to the presence
of several minor compounds such as polyphenols, tocopherols and
carotenoids.78 In recent years, many studies have been performed
aiming to characterize and classify olive oils using diverse tech-
niques such as chromatography (GC, HPLC) and spectroscopy (NIR,
FTIR, FR-Raman, NMR and MS).79 – 82 In particular, FTIR coupled with
chemometrics was able to distinguish 100% of olive oil blends with
an olive oil content higher or lower than 500 g kg−1 . ATR-FTIR spec-
tra of vegetable oils can be used to distinguish olive oils of different
categories and varieties from other edible oils such as sunflower,
corn, soybean and canola oils.83 Other spectroscopic techniques,
such as 1 H NMR, can be used to detect olive oil adulteration with
hazelnut oil at a level of approximately 1.3 g kg−1 but with some
limitations.84,85
In addition, an important consumer choice factor is the geo-
graphical origin of olive oil production. To guarantee and promote
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high quality extra virgin olive oils that show particular quality
properties attributed to their geographical area of production, the
European Union (EU) legislates and regulates the creation of a PDO.
NMR has been extensively used to develop accurate analytical fin-
gerprinting methods for the authentication or certification of the
geographical origin of olive oils, aided by suitable chemometric
analysis. The main advantage of NMR is that it does not require
complicated sample preparation and the determination of very
different chemical species can be performed in a single experi-
ment. Multivariate analysis such as principal component analysis
(PCA) allowed a good discrimination and gave some affinity indi-
cations for the US market olive oils in comparison with other single
cultivars of extra virgin olive oils, such as Coratina (Italy), Picual
(Spain), Kalamata (Greece) and Sfx (Tunisia).86 Also, a less expen-
sive variety from Greece or Turkey can be substituted in place of
olive oil from Italy as claimed on the label. The geographical ori-
gin of European extra virgin olive oils (Ligurian versus non-Ligurian
and harvesting years) was evaluated by NIR, 1 H NMR and head
space-solid phase microextraction (HS-SPME)-GC/MS.87 – 89 Analyt-
ical parameters, such as DNA-based markers, that are independent
from environmental fluctuations, have proved to be useful tools for
the identification of cultivars used in olive oil production.90
Many adulterated sesame oils distributed in Korea are known to
contain more than one kind of foreign edible oil, such as corn, soy-
bean, sunflower, perilla, cottonseed and canola oil. Recently, the
combined analysis of stable isotope ratio, 1 H NMR spectroscopy
and fatty acid profiles of the oils was successfully used to con-
firm sesame oil authenticity in Korea.91 Chinese and Indian sesame
oils that are deliberately labeled as being of domestic origin often
appear in Korean local markets because Korean sesame oils are
three to four times more expensive than Chinese or Indian sesame
products.92 This situation has created the need for analytical meth-
ods that aim to distinguish Korean sesame oil from the oil obtained
from imported sesame seeds. Carbon, hydrogen and oxygen sta-
ble isotope ratios (𝛿 13 C values of −29.8%, 𝛿D values of −181.9%
and 𝛿 18 O values of 16.8%) were useful parameters with respect to
differentiating Korean sesame oil from Chinese and Indian sesame
oils distributed in Korea.93
Virgin coconut oil may be adulterated with cheaper oils and
fats such as palm oil and lard. Apart from the nutritional aspect
(virgin coconut oil is healthier), the blending of lard has major
implications in certain religious societies such as among Islamic
and Jewish individuals. The detection and quantification of
virgin coconut oil adulteration with palm oil (5.0–500 g kg−1 )
or lard (10–500 mL L−1 ) were monitored using FTIR combined
with PLS analysis and fast gas chromatography with surface
acoustic wave (GC-SAW) detector systems.94,95 High-performance
thin layer chromatography (HPTLC) methods are used rou-
tinely to assess the adulteration of edible oils by argemone oil
because of its toxicity.96 The ability to analyze the adulteration
of cod-liver oil with much cheaper oil-like animal fats such as
beef, chicken, mutton and lard has become necessary in recent
years. FTIR spectroscopy, which is a nondestructive and fast tech-
nique, has been used to distinguish cod-liver oil samples from
animal fats.97
Beverages
Fruit juices
The production of fruit juices represents an important and rapidly
growing sector of the beverage industry. Similar to other highly
priced food commodities, orange juice, other valuable fruit juices
and purees are likely targets for food adulteration and fraud.98
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Table 3. Methods to assess the authenticity of beverages (fruit juices, coffee, tea and alcoholic beverages)

Food category Adulterant Targetmarker Detection technology Reference

Fruit juices
Apple juice Beet medium invert syrup, 13 C/12 C, 2 H/1 H ratios GC-IRMS 100
high fructose corn syrup FTMIR-ATR spectra FTMIR-ATR with PLS 101
sugars
Different varieties and Volatile compounds HS-SPME-GC-MS with 102
geographical origin PCA, LDA, SLDA
Orange juice Apple or grapefruit juice TIC chromatograms HPLC-MS with PCA, LDA 103

Water 18 O/16 O isotope ratio SNIF-NMR, IRMS 105

C4 sugar 13 C/12 C isotope ratio IRMS 106

Pomegranate Apple, pear, grape, cherry, Anthocyanins, sugar, HPLC-UV, HPLC-RI, flame 107
juice plum, blueberry, organic acid, amino photometer
blackberry or aronia juice acid, potassium
Grape juice FTIR spectra FTIR with PCA, PLS 108

Kiwi, peach, Different geographical origin 1 H NMR spectra 1 H NMR with PCA, 104
blueberry juice PLS-DA

Coffee
Arabica coffee Robusta coffee ESI-MS spectra of polar FT-ICR-MS with PLS 111
compounds
(caffeoylphenylalanine
or
p-coumaroyltyrosine)
Kahweol, UV–vis spectrometer 112
16-O-methylcafestol
1 H NMR spectra (sugars, 1 H-NMR HR-MAS NMR 113 114
amino acids,
chlorogenic acids,
caffeine,
16-O-methylcafestol,
etc.)
Chloroplast trnL-trnF PCR-RFLP 115

Roasted coffee Defective beans Volatile compounds SPME-GC-MS 116

Corn, coffee husks DR spectra DRIFTS with PCA, LDA 117

Barley Volatile compounds SPME-GC-MS with PCA 118

Barley, corn, soybean, coffee 1 H NMR spectra 1 H NMR 119

husks
Different geographical LC-MS, GC-FID LC-MS, GC-FID with PCA 120
origin (Asia, South chromatograms,
America, Africa) carbohydrate, protein,
monosaccharide,
amine
Different manufacturing 1 H NMR spectra, 1 H NMR with PCA, LDA 121
sources 5-(hydroxymethyl)
-2-furaldehyde
Caffeinated/decaffeinated UV-visible spectra UV-visible 122
coffee, shelf-life condition spectrophotometer
(expired/non-expired) with SIMCA, PCA,
SPA-LDA
Tea
Green tea Different geographical origin FT-NIR spectra FT-NIR with LDA, KNN, 124
(Abhui, Henan, Jiangsu or ANN, SVM, PCA
Zhejiang province)
Different geographical Color change profiles Colorimetric artificial 125
origin and grade levels tongue and nose
Pu-erh green tea Regular green tea GC-MS chromatogram, HS-SPME/GC-MS with 126
volatile compounds CA, PCA

Oolong tea Similar varieties GC-MS chromatogram, HS-SPME/GC–MS with 127

volatile compounds PCA, HCA, S-LDA
Green, green Different tea types UPLC-DAD UPLC-DAD-MS with PCA 128
pu-erh, white chromatograms
tea

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Table 3. continued

Food category Adulterant Target marker Detection technology Reference

Green, white, Different geographical origin 1 H NMR spectra 1 H NMR with PCA, PLS-DA, 129
oolong tea (China, Japan, South Korea) OPLS-DA
Green, black, Different geographical origin 𝛿 13 C, 𝛿 15 N, 𝛿D values, ICP-MS, IRMS 130
oolong tea (Asian, Indian tea) multi-element
composition
Alcoholic beverage
Wine Different grape varieties FTMIR spectrum, volatile FT-MIR, GC-FID with PCA, 132
composition LDA, ANOVA
Volatile compounds HS-SPME-GC-MS with PCA, 133
(monoterpenoids, PLS-DA, OPLS-DA
esters,
C13 -norisoprenoids)
Non-volatile compounds ESI-LC-QTOF with PCA 134

Different geographical origin Multi-elemental ICP-MS with ANOVA, CA, 137

(Italy) composition LDA,PCL
Different geographical origin Polyphenolic compounds HPLC-UV, HPLC-FLD, LC-MS 138
(Spain) with PCA, PLS1-DA,
PLS2-DA
Sugars, water, synthetic 13 C/12 C, 18 O/16 O stable IRMS, HPLC-UV with ANOVA, 140
sweeteners, synthetic red isotopes, chromatogram LDA
dyes, coloring agents of synthetic sweeteners,
synthetic red dyes, HMF
and antochyanins
Tequila Different tequilas categories UV-visible absorption UV-visible spectroscopy 141
(100% blue agave and spectra
mixed), types (white, rested,
aging), adulterants (ethanol,
water, rum, other tequilas)
Whisky Different brands, ageing and Electropherograms, CE-UV, LC-MS/MS 143
blending parameter
(syringaldehyde,
coniferaldehyde,
sinapaldehyde, vanillin)
ESI FT-ICR MS spectra, ESI FT-ICR MS with PCA 144
elemental composition
(carboxylic acids,
phenols, fat acids, sulfur
of nitrogen)
Beer Different labelled Rochefort Volatile compounds HS-SPME-GC-TOF-MS with 145
and Trappist beer PLS-DA, LDA, ANN-MLP

The most frequent profit-driven fraudulent procedures are simple
dilution with water, the addition of sugars, acids, colorant agents
and/or cheaper alternatives (typically juices obtained from apples,
pears, grapefruits and so on).99
Apple juice is one of the most popular juices worldwide. An
improved procedure for determining 13 C and 2 H isotope ratios
using gas chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectrometry
(GC-IRMS) has been developed for identifying the addition of
low-cost commercial sugar syrups (beet and cane syrup) to pure
apple juices and related products.100 Moreover, inspection of
the attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform mid-infrared
(FTMIR-ART) spectral profile allows the detection of added sugars
such as glucose, fructose and inverted cane sugar to commercial
apple beverages. The discrimination analysis has high precision
and is useful for detecting changes in sugar content.101 The
implementation of a successful traceability system in the apple
juice industry will require the ability to distinguish variety and
geographical origin of raw materials; this can be achieved using
HS-SPME-GC/MS with multivariate analysis.102
Non-targeted HPLC-MS metabolomic fingerprinting coupled
with chemometric analysis was shown to be a powerful tool
for the authenticity testing of fruit juice. In this regard, linear
discrimination analysis (LDA) classification models constructed
and validated by employing a highly variable sample set were
able to reliably detect the addition of relatively low-priced juice
(apple or grapefruit) as low as 150 mL L−1 of total volume into
more expensive juice (orange) with 100% prediction.103 Also, the
usefulness of the NMR-based metabolic profiling was highlighted
using some of the results regarding quality, adulteration, varieties
and the geographical origin of fruits and fruit juices, such as kiwi,
peach and blueberry.104 Improved detection of water addition in
fruit juices is performed by the analysis of the isotopic ratios of
oxygen (18 O/16 O) of ethanol derived from the sugars in orange
juice using the preparation steps of the SNIF-NMR method fol-
lowed by IRMS.105 Additionally, stable carbon isotope ratio analysis
(SCIRA) can be used to identify adulterated juices because the
ratio of 13 C to 12 C is different for the C4 sugars in orange juice.106
Pomegranate juice is typically adulterated in two ways. Other
highly concentrated juices (aronia, blueberry or blackberry) or nat-
ural grape pigments are added to imitate the color of pomegranate
juice and poor quality juice or peel extract with non-pomegranate
sugars is added for a stringent taste. Authentic commercial

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Table 4. Methods to assess the authenticity of spices and sweeteners

Food category Adulterant Targetmarker Detection technology Reference

Spices
Turmeric, curry, Sudan I, II, III, IV dye UV-visible spectra UV-visible spectrophotometer, 147 149
paprika powder chromatograms HPLC-DAD with KNN, SIMCA,
PLS-DA
Chili powder Sudan I dye NIR and Raman spectra NIR and Raman with PCA, 148
PLS-DA
Dried red beet pulp, almond RAPD primers (OPA-02, 08, PCR-RAPD 150
shell dust, 10, 12, 13, 15, OPC-07, 08,
Ziziphusnummularia fruits OPD-05, 11, OPJ-18)
Black pepper Papaya seeds RAPD primers (OPC-01, 04, PCR-RAPD 151
06, 07, 08)
Saffron (Crocus Turmeric,safflower, Crocus 1 H NMR spectra 1 H NMR with PCA, OPLS-DA, 152
sativus L.) sativus stamens, Gardenia O2PLS-DA
jasminoides fruit extract
Turmeric powder Curcuma zedoaria, Curcuma RAPD primers (OPA01, PCR-RAPD 153
(Curcuma longa) malabarica OPE18)
Pepper, cumin, Mesocarp, endocarp, starch, Micrograph Microscopic 154
mustard powder monosodium glutamate,
endosperm, seed coat
Sweeteners
Honey Feeding honeybee with 𝛿 13 C values C4 % sugar ratio EA-IRMS 155
industrial sugar syrups (high 1 H NMR spectra, 1 H-13 C FT-NMR, GC-FID with GDA 156
fructose corn syrup, bee HMBC spectra, syrup
feeding syrup, sucrose sugar composition
glucose monohydrate sugar)

C4 and C3 artificial sugars (high Raman spectra Raman with PLS-LDA 157
fructose corn syrup, maltose 158
Separate plot of e-nose, e-nose, e-tongue with PCA-LDA
syrup, cane sugar, beet sugar
e-tongue
syrups)
Different botanical origins FTIR spectra FTIR with PCA 160
(acacia, rape, lime, heather, 1 H-NMR spectra Botanical NMR with PCA, O2PLS-DA 161
honeydew, cornflower, makers
sunflower, clover, chestnut,
linden, orange, eucalyptus,
polyfloral)

Different geographical origin 1 H NMR spectra, Kynurenic NMR, LC-TOF-MS with GP 162 164
(Corsica versus non-Corsica) acid
Volatile compounds HS-SPME-GC, GC-TOF-MS with 159
LDA, DPLS, SIMCA, SVM
Royal jelly Yogurt, water, egg white, sweet 10-hydroxy- 2-decenoic acid HPLC-UV 165
condensed milk mixed with (10-HDA)
propolis, unripe banana and
corn starch slurry
Vanillin non-Wanillaplanifolia Chromatograms HPLC-UV 166

Maple syrup Corn syrup 𝛿 18 O, 𝛿 2 H, 𝛿 13 C values, molar IRMS, ICP-OES, ICR-MS 167
ratios of Na/(Na + K) and
Na/(Na + Ca)

pomegranate juice is characterized by a consistent composition
of components such as pomegranate polyphenols, sugar profiles,
organic acids, amino acids and potassium using HPLC and flame
photometry.107 FTIR is an especially good method for providing a
rapid classification of pomegranate juice concentrate and grape
juice concentrate.108
Coffee
In the past two decades, there has been continual growth in
the global consumption of coffee. The adulteration of roasted
coffee is both frequent and diversified. It can involve the quality
of the beans (species, geographical origin and defective beans), as
well as the addition of other substances (coffee husks and stems,
maize, barley, chicory, wheat middlings, brown sugar, soybean, rye
and triticale) to coffee blends with the aim of making them less
expensive.109,110
The world’s commercial coffee comes from only two species:
Coffea arabica (arabica coffee) and Coffea canephora (robusta cof-
fee). Arabica coffee is the most appreciated by consumers because
of its intense aroma, low bitterness and low caffeine content. This
is reflected in the selling price, which is usually 20–25% higher
than that of robusta. Therefore, proof of authenticity and the
detection of frauds involving the illegal admixture of cheaper
robusta coffee beans into high-quality arabica coffee are crucial

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Table 5. Methods to assess the authenticity of grain-based foods

Food category Adulterant Targetmarker Detection technology Reference

Basmati rice Non-Basmati long-grain 1 H NMR spectra 1 H NMR with PCA, ICA, 170
rice, round-grain rice LDA, SIMCA, FDA,
PLS-DA
RM241, BAD2 (betaine Real-time PCR with HRM 171
aldehyde (high resolution
dehydrogenase 2) melting)
Different geographical 13 C/12 C, 18 O/16 O, IRMS, ICP-MS with CDA 172
origin (USA, Europe, Multi-element
Basmati regions; India composition
and Pakistan)
Durum wheat (flour, pasta) Soft wheat C17:0/C21:0 HPLC-UV, LC-MS/MS 173
alkylresorcinols ratio
Microsatellite DNA Real-time PCR 174

Different species 𝜔-Secalin, chloroplast trnL Real-time PCR 175

Gluten-free product
(Triticum durum,
Triticum aestivum,
Triticum dicoccum,
Triticum turgidum,
Triticum dicoccoides,
Triticum spelta,
Hordeum vulgare,
Avena sativa, Zea mays,
Oryza sativa, Secale
cereal, Sorghum
bicolor, Triticosecale)
Different geographical 13 C/12 C, 18 O/16 O, 15 N/14 N, IRMS 176
origin (Canada,
Australia, Turkey, Italy)
Wheat, barley, rye 𝜔-Gliadin (wheat), Real-time PCR 177
𝜔-Secalin (rye), Hordey
(barley), Avenin (oat)
Chloroplast trnL, Gliadin QC-PCR, ELISA 178

Cereals Different component rpoC2 Multiplex PCR 179

ratio (adlay, barley,
maize, rice, wheat)

in coffee analysis. Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass
spectrometer (FT-ICR-MS) has proved to be suitable for the identi-
fication of major polar compounds in aqueous coffee extracts and
for quantifying blends of the two most common coffee varieties.111
Also, the identification of arabica and robusta varieties is possible
via the marker compounds, kahweol and 16-O-methylcafestol
predominant in robusta coffee by ultraviolet (UV)-visible spec-
trometry, HPLC and 1 H NMR.112,113 Especially, the determination of
the 16-O-methylcafestol by NMR has advantages in terms of speed
and relative simplicity. In addition, a high-resolution-magic-angle
spinning (HR-MAS) NMR approach has been used for assessing the
evolution of chemical composition during the roasting process
in arabica and robusta varieties.114 Furthermore, DNA extracted
from both green and roasted beans can be used in a PCR-RFLP
based analysis to differentiate between arabica and robusta types
of coffee.115
GC-MS combined with chemometric techniques has been
mainly used for the study of volatile profiles, especially pyrazines,
pyrroles and phenols of green and roasted defective coffee
seeds.116 In addition, coffee-related fraud has included admix-
tures with cheaper materials, including coffee husks and other
roasted grains. Diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform
spectroscopy (DRIFTS) enables satisfactory simultaneous dis-
crimination between roasted coffee and commonly employed
adulterants such as coffee husks and corn.117 SPME-GC-MS was
successfully employed to detect adulteration with roasted barley
at levels as low as 10 g kg−1 in roasted coffee samples.118 Recently,
the proposed 1 H NMR method was found to be highly effective
for the identification and quantification of the main adulterants in
roasted and ground coffees, including barley, corn, soybean and
coffee husks.119 It should be noted that this methodology could
be applied for rapid evaluation of the presence of a larger number
of adulterants.
The flavor and taste of coffee are the most important criteria for
evaluating its quality and they are influenced by environmental
factors including soil, climate and species. Fraudulent retailers
can sell inferior quality products marked as those from reputable
manufacturers. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the origin of
a coffee sample; 1 H NMR, LC-MS, GC-FID and multivariate statis-
tics have been successfully utilized in classifying geographical
and botanical origin.120,121 Many consumers prefer to consume
decaffeinated coffee aiming to avoid undesirable health effects.
Therefore, assessing compliance with decaffeination standards is
an important issue. UV-visible spectrometry and successive pro-
jections algorithm (SPA)-LDA modeling could provide a promising
technique for assessing the conservation state and decaffeination
of coffee samples.122
Tea
Tea (Camellia sinensis L.) has been an important drink for over
1000 years because of its health benefits. In general, green and
oolong tea are consumed mainly in Asia and Northern Africa,

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Table 6. Methods to assess the authenticity of others (organic foods and medicinal plants)

Food category Adulterant Target marker Detection technology Reference

Organic foods
Vegetables Conventional vegetables 15 N/14 N 1 H NMR spectra IRMS 1 H NMR 181 183
(rocket, endive, parsley,
chicory, leek, garlic, onion,
cauliflower, carrot, potato,
tomato, sweet pepper,
kohlrabi)
Grains Conventional wheat, barley, Multi-elemental composition ICP-OES, ICP-MS with PCA 182
faba bean and potato
Conventional maize GC-MS chromatograms, malic GC/MS with PCA, ANOVA 184
acid, myo-inositol and
phosphate
Fruits Conventional oranges, 15 N/14 N, ascorbic acid, total IRMS, HPLC, digital 185
peaches, strawberries, and soluble solids refractometer
clementines
Milk Conventional milk 13 C/12 C, 𝛼-linolenic acid IRMS 186
(C18:3𝜔3)
Beef Conventional beef 13 C/12 C, 15 N/14 N, 34 S/32 S EA-CF-IRMS 187

Salmon Conventional salmon 13 C/12 C, 15 N/14 N, 18 O/16 O, fatty IRMS, GC-FID with ANN 188
acids
Eggs Conventional eggs Carotenoids HPLC-UV 189

Wine Non-organic wine Infrared spectra MIR 190

Medicinal plants
Food supplement
Bearberry
(Arctostaphylos
uva-ursi)
Echinacea species
(Echinacea
angustifolia, Echinacea
pallida, Echinacea
purpurea)
Black cohosh (Actaea
racemosa L., syn.
Cimicifuga racemosa
L.)
Garcinia cambogia
Panax ginseng
Red ginseng
Cynanchum wilfordii
Sildenafil, sibutramine, MS spectra, NMR spectra HPLC-MS, NMR 192
1,3-dimethylamylamin,
yohimbine, and tadalafil
Arctostaphylos pungens HPTLC fingerprint and HPTLC, HPLC-DAD, NMR 193
densitograms, arbutin,
hydroquinone, 1 H NMR
spectra
Parthenium integrifolium L. OPC-2, OPH-13 PCR-RAPD with ANOVA 194
Different species (Actaea Polyphenols, triterpene HPLC-PDA, LC-MS 195
cimicifuga L. etc.) glycosides, LC-MS TIC spectra
Garcinia indica Anthocyanins HPLC-UV, LC/MS 196
(cyanidin-3-O-sambubioside,
cyanidin-3-O-glucoside)
Different geographical 1 H-NMR spectra, DOSY spectra, NMR with PCA 197
origin (Korea, China) and HMBC spectra
age (4, 5 and 6 years old)
Different Korean ginseng 45S nrDNAs Multiplex-PCR 198
cultivars
Different geographical LC-MS-MS spectra, Ra1, Rb1 or LC-MS/MS, electronic nose 199
origin (Korea, China) Rg2 ginsenosides
Cynanchum auriculatum UPLC/QTOF-MS-BPI UPLC-QTOF-MS with PCA, 200
chromatograms PLS-DA, OPLS-DA
Conduritol F HPLC-UV with PCA, HCA 201

trnL-trnF Real-time PCR 202

white tea in Asia and Europe, pu-erh tea in Asia, and black
tea worldwide.123 Economic adulteration includes the use of tea
from other geographical origins, lower quality grades, reduced or
extended aging and substitution with similar but less valued vari-
eties. Thus, methodologies that aim to confirm the provenance of
tea and deter incorrect labeling are becoming important tools for
monitoring fraudulent practices. Fourier transform near-infrared
(FT-NIR) spectroscopy with supervised pattern recognition can be
successfully applied to discriminate the geographical origin of
green tea.124 The flavor of green tea is the most important ele-
ment for tea evaluation. In recent years, discrimination of green
teas according to varieties and grade levels has been recognized; it
is based upon artificial nose and tongue techniques that use colori-
metric sensor arrays.125 HS-SPME-GC/MS fingerprint-based analy-
sis of volatile compounds with multivariate statistical method scan
be a useful tool in discriminating Pu-erh green teas126 from regular

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Adulterated food categories and their analytical methods
green teas and in classifying oolong tea varieties.127 Moreover,
a newly developed ultra-performance liquid chromatographic
(UPLC)-DAD-MS method has been used for the tentative identi-
fication and quantification of the major constituents in different
type of teas (green pu-erh, green, and white teas).128 The repu-
tation of particular countries for the production of high-quality
unique products allows the market to demand higher prices. This
tempts unscrupulous producers to fraudulently label their prod-
ucts as originating from one of these areas to take advantage
of the higher price. Accordingly, there is a need to protect both
buyer and seller by developing analytical protocols that can be
used to identify the provenance of foodstuffs. Metabolite profiles
for diverse teas (green, oolong and white teas) collected from the
most famous tea-producing areas (China, Japan and South Korea)
might be useful for assessing tea quality or discriminating distinct
tea products from different locations. The simultaneous identifi-
cation of diverse tea metabolites could be achieved through a
1
H-NMR-based metabolomics approach.129 Additionally, trace ele-
ment analysis in combination with stable isotope data, specifically
𝛿N and 𝛿D, can be used to determine the growing region of an
unknown tea sample with a high degree of confidence.130
Alcoholic beverages
The verification of wine identity and authenticity has an urgent
importance in the current context of growing market globaliza-
tion. As a result, wine authentication is indispensable and essential
for today’s consumer protection. Variety, provenance, production
year and quality ratings, which are the most important attributes
used for the characterization, description and pricing of wines, can
be reflected in their total composition of small molecules. Tradi-
tionally, the only way to discriminate between wines was using
sensory evaluation by a panel of experts. However, the wine indus-
try needs analytical tools that allow rapid and inexpensive analy-
sis to verify the authenticity of high-value products. Higher alco-
hols, esters and volatile fatty acids are especially useful for inves-
tigating differences and similarities between wines cultivars.131
Analytical data from several instrumental techniques, such as FT-
MIR, GC-FID and HS-SPME-GC/MS, have been used to investi-
gate the chemical composition of wine aiming to distinguish
between different grape varieties, with each providing a unique
set of information.132,133 More recently, the non-targeted elec-
trospray ionization liquid chromatography-hybrid quadrupole/
time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ESI-LC-QTOF-MS) metabolomics
method was demonstrated to be a powerful tool for wine charac-
terization and authenticity testing.134 Also, 1 H-NMR spectroscopy
is currently employed to characterize wine in terms of targeted
as well as non-targeted analysis in only a few minutes, therefore
allowing the simultaneous investigation of diverse parameters.135
The identification of the geographical origin of wines is espe-
cially of great interest for wine consumers and producers as a guar-
antee of quality.136 Trace element patterns observed using ICP-MS
can be used to fingerprint wines and reflect the provenance or
region of origin.137 Polyphenolic compounds that may play a
significant role in the classification of wines from different geo-
graphical origins have been identified by high-performance liquid
chromatography coupled with diode array detection (HPLC-DAD)
and fluorescence and by LC-MS with chemometric analysis by PCA
and PLS-DA.138 In winemaking, typical adulteration practices are
the non-authorized addition of natural or synthetic sweeteners,
the addition of ethanol, dilution with water and the addition of
synthetic substances to hide various defects of the product.139
Exogenous addition of sugar and water in counterfeited wines can
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be detected by measuring stable isotope content (𝛿 13 C and 𝛿 18 O).
Furthermore, a large number of chemical parameters can be inves-
tigated such as isotopic parameters, anthocyanins, sweeteners and
red dyes that are used to correct deficiencies of taste and color.140
The identification of adulterated and fake tequilas and correct
discrimination between categories (100% blue agave and mixed)
and types (white, rested and aged) can be accomplished using
UV-visible spectroscopy and chemometrics.141 Whiskey brand
authenticity is usually established by determining the profile of
volatile organic compounds by GC analysis.142 However, whiskey
adulteration is becoming more sophisticated and sometimes
counterfeit samples display similar volatile organic compound
profiles. A rapid analytical methodology using capillary elec-
trophoresis (CE) has been developed to determine the amounts
of aromatic aldehydes vanillin, syringaldehyde, coniferaldehyde,
and sinapaldehydein whiskey.143 More recently, ESI FT-ICR MS
was shown to be a powerful technique for the direct molecu-
lar analysis of Scotch whisky, and for being able to provide a
characteristic profile of its polar constituents.144 Specialty beers
such as Rochefort and Trappist have unique characteristics,
including flavor. HS-SPME-based sampling procedures coupled
to GC-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (TOF-MS) was developed
for obtaining fingerprints (GC profiles) of beer volatiles and these
data have been used to authenticate beer products.145
Spices and sweeteners
Spices
Spices are especially susceptible to adulteration because they are
typically sold in powdered form. They have long and complicated
supply chains, and so reliable and cost-effective testing method-
ologies for ground spices are challenging to develop, and perfor-
mance losses in final food products can be difficult to detect.146
The synthetic dyes, compared to most natural dyes, have higher
stability and lower production costs. Sudan dyes are classified as
Class 3 carcinogens (IARC, 1975, pp. 224–231)147 and are banned
worldwide as coloring agents for human consumption. The use
of UV-visible spectroscopy with multivariate classification tech-
niques is a simple and inexpensive methodology for determin-
ing the possible contamination of culinary spices with Sudan I–IV
dyes.147 The methods employed are rapid, easy to use, and require
minimal or no sample preparation. Chili powder is a globally
traded commodity and, since 2003, has been found to be adul-
terated with Sudan dyes. Both NIR and Raman spectroscopies are
capable of detecting the presence of Sudan I dye in chili powder.148
In addition, of the 23 dyes investigated with the new multi-dye
general screening method using LC-UV/visible detection in chilli
powder, canned chicken in a curry sauce, fennel, palm oil, paprika
and turmeric, 19 are adequately dealt with by the new method.149
The advantages of the new multi-dye general screening method
are that no clean-up is required, other than filtration, and there is
no concentration stage.
Chili powder is also adulterated by adding dried red beet pulp,
almond shell dust and powdered Ziziphus nummularia fruits.
RAPD-PCR is a good method for the identification of plant-based
adulterants in chili powder.150 RAPD-PCR techniques have also
been used to differentiate black pepper from its adulterant Carica
papaya.151 Among the major candidates for adulteration con-
ducted for economic gain, saffron is one of the most targeted
spices.74 Common fraudulent practices include the addition
of inferior plant material with a similar appearance to extend
the more expensive saffron. Authentic saffron and four typical
plant-derived materials utilized as bulking agents, Crocus sativus
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stamens, safflower, turmeric and gardenia, have been investi-
gated. A two-step approach, which relied on the application of
both orthogonal PLS-DA and bidirectional orthogonal PLS-DA
(O2PLS-DA) models to the 1 H NMR data, was used to identify
authentic and adulterated saffron.152 Turmeric powder has been
adulterated with rhizomes of cheaply available Curcuma species,
especially those containing the coloring pigment curcumin, such
as Curcuma zedoaria and Curcuma malabarica, which leads to
toxicity and a poor quality product. RAPD-derived sequence
characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers could successfully
detect C. zedoaria and C. malabarica adulteration. The efficiency of
the SCAR markers for detecting adulteration even at low concen-
trations (10 g adulterant kg−1 of turmeric powder) substantiates
their applicability as a qualitative diagnostic tool for detecting
plant-based adulterants in turmeric powder.153 In recent years,
microscopic powder identification techniques have been able to
clearly distinguish between the characteristic constituents and
the adulterating substances, and they are much more intuitive,
rapid, accurate and available than organoleptic inspection and
physical or chemical identification.154
Sweeteners
Increasing environmental pollution and the spread of disease have
been blamed for a decrease in the global honeybee population.
This fact, coupled with a higher demand, means that honey is
becoming an increasingly scarce commodity and, consequently,
honey adulteration is on the rise. Honey adulteration can be direct
(dilution with water or directly added sugar and syrups) or indi-
rect (feeding of bees with industrial sugars and syrups). Adulter-
ated honey produced by honeybee colonies fed with different lev-
els of sugar and sugar derived from C4 plants such as corn and
sugar cane can be evaluated by using the difference between the
𝛿 13 C value of protein and honey (Δ𝛿 13 C) and the C4 % ratio.155
Adulteration of honey by sugar syrups can also be detected
using one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) NMR cou-
pled with multivariate statistical analyses.156 The best discrimina-
tion model involved 1D-spectra and a cross-verification analysis
showed a prediction capacity for this model of 95.2%. The 2D NMR
analyses also gave satisfactory results (cross-verification showed
90.5% accuracy). In addition, honey can easily be adulterated
directly with various cheaper sweeteners, such as high fructose
corn syrup, maltose syrup, cane sugar and beet sugar syrups,
resulting in higher commercial profits. Honey adulteration can also
be detected using several modern methods such as Raman spec-
troscopy, an electronic nose or an electronic tongue.157,158
Consumer choice is linked to unique organoleptic and aro-
matic properties of honey that depend principally on the botan-
ical and geographical origins of the product. The geographi-
cal categorization of honeys can raise its commercial value and
contribute to the micro economy of the region. Among phyto-
chemicals, volatile organic compounds have been proposed as the
key markers for differentiating honeys from different geographi-
cal origins.159 Most of the honey samples from rape, false acacia,
heather and honeydew, which possess different physical-chemical
and sensorial properties, can be classified correctly by FTIR.160 NMR
approaches have proven successful for the development of classifi-
cation models specific for different types of polyfloral and unifloral
honey samples.161 The high accuracy obtained by the classification
models (>91%) suggests that metabolomic tools can be used to
discriminate the origin of honey samples.
A total 57 samples with geographical origin from Italy, Hungary,
South America and China (geographical origin) were successfully
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differentiated using 1D 1 H NMR and 2D heteronuclear single
quantum correlation spectroscopy coupled with multivariate
data analysis.162 ICP-MS has been used in combination with data
mining approaches for the estimation of the geographical origin
of Brazilian honeys.163 NMR spectroscopic fingerprints have been
used for the confirmation of claims made on honeys of Corsican
(France) and non-Corsican (Australia, Germany, Ireland and Italy)
provenance.164 Additionally, GC × GC-TOF-MS combined with
methods such as LDA, discriminant partial least squares (DPLS)
and support vector machines (SVM) can be successfully applied to
detect mislabeling of Corsican honeys.159
Royal jelly is popularly known to have many nutrients and is
sold as a food supplement. Because of the product’s high price,
royal jelly can be adulterated by adding less expensive products
that cannot be detected organoleptically, such as starch corn
slurry, yogurt, egg white, condensed milk mixed with propolis,
unripe banana and water. The physicochemical composition of
pure royal jelly, as well as some adulterated samples, can be
analyzed by determining moisture, ash, lipids, nitrogen/proteins,
carbohydrates, starch and 10-hydroxy-2-decenoic acid.165
Vanillin is used worldwide as a flavor and aroma. Because of
the high cost to cultivate Vanilla planifolia most of the marketed
vanillin is produced by chemical methods. Vanillin fingerprint
chromatograms are used to discriminate vanillin from different
origins. Three alignment algorithms have been tested: correlation
optimized warping, target peak alignment and semi-parametric
time warping.166 The addition of as little as 100 g kg−1 corn syrup to
pure maple syrup can be detected using elemental concentrations
and the stable isotopic composition of maple syrups.167
Grain-based foods
In most countries, cereals including wheat, rice and corn are the
main agricultural products. The price of cereal is chiefly deter-
mined by its protein content, starch content and/or hardness,
often with substantial price increments between grades.
Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is the most important cereal crop in terms
of world production.168 Basmati, an aromatic variety of rice of
high quality, is found in the foothills of the Himalayan mountains
and especially all over Pakistan and India. Basmati is sold at a very
high market price at a ratio of 4:1 to common rice. Because of the
potential gain, traders tend to heavily adulterate the crop with
non-fragrant varieties.169 1 H NMR spectra of rice type (Basmati,
non-Basmati long-grain rice and round-grain rice) can be used
as a feasible and accurate screening tool for the identification
of geographical origin (or rice cultivars).170 DNA-based meth-
ods coupled with HRM analysis are available to detect Basmati
adulteration. Compared with other techniques, HRM analysis is
a high resolution, cost-effective method that could be extended
to quantifying adulterations in rice varieties and commercial rice
food products.171 The geographical origin of premium long-grain
rice can be analyzed using IRMS and ICP-MS.172 European rice
samples generally contain relatively high levels of magnesium
whereas Indian/Pakistani samples are characterized by relatively
low 18 O abundance.
Because durum wheat (Triticum durum Desf.) is approximately
20% more expensive than common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)
and considered to be of superior quality for the manufacture of
pasta products, efficient methods for the detection of accidental
or intentional admixture of common wheat to durum wheat
product are required. To detect and estimate adulteration, the
C17/C21 alkylresorcinols ratios of common wheat adulteration in
durum wheat can be analyzed using HPLC and LC-MS/MS173 and
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Adulterated food categories and their analytical methods
numerous methods use the detection of specific proteins sepa-
rated by electrophoresis or HPLC. NIR spectroscopy in conjunction
with chemometric techniques such as PLS and wavelet interface to
linear modeling analysis (WILMA) also provide satisfactory results,
yielding a lower uncertainty value than those associated with
traditional analytical methods for the percentage of adulterant
present in quantified samples. Moreover, DNA-based methods can
be applied to detect the adulterants in parental lines of the hybrid
wheat seed and also in processed foods. In particular, analysis
of DNA microsatellites has proven effective in detecting wheat
adulteration.174,175 However, they are unsuitable for characterizing
the geographical origin of durum wheat semolina samples cul-
tivated in different countries. This challenge has been effectively
tackled by a multi-isotopic approach considering 13 C, 18 O and 15 N
isotopes.176
The only treatment for celiac disease is a life-long avoidance of
wheat, barley and rye. Accordingly, the detection and discrimina-
tion of cereal contamination in gluten-free foods is essential for
celiac disease patients. Real-time PCR, quantitative competitive
(QC)-PCR and ELISA methods have been established for the spe-
cific discrimination of wheat, rye, barley and oats in gluten-free
food.177,178 Recently, food fraud in cereal food products derived
from a ready-to-eat powder (e.g. Sunsik) is a great concern to reg-
ulatory authorities and consumers, especially the mislabeling or
incorrect labeling of allergenic constituents in Korea. Thus, specific
primers for each species have been developed based on sequence
polymorphisms in chloroplast rpoC2m and multiplex PCR can
detect components of commercial flow-mixed products.179
Others
Organic foods
Most consumers consider that organic foods are healthier, safer,
environmentally friendlier and of higher product quality com-
pared to conventional foods. Organic products generally have
a premium price over conventional products, which explains
the appearance of fraud cases.180 Accordingly, suitable authen-
tication tools to rapidly distinguish organic and conventional
crops are needed. The nitrogen isotopic signature (15 N/14 N ratio
or 𝛿 15 N signature) of a product is reported to be a promising
method for differentiating between organic and conventional
products grown with or without the use of synthetic fertilizers.181
The multi-elemental composition of organic and conventional
wheat, spring barley, faba beans and potato has been analyzed
with inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy
(ICP-OES) and ICP-MS.182 Recently, 1 H NMR profiling techniques
with linear discriminant analysis demonstrated good discrimina-
tion between conventionally and organically grown tomatoes.183
Maize (Zea mays) kernels, grown conventionally and organically,
have been investigated using a GC-MS based metabolite profiling
methodology.184 The stable isotope ratio of nitrogen (expressed as
𝛿 15 N), ascorbic acid and total soluble solids were found to be the
most significant isotopic and chemical markers for distinguishing
between organic and conventional fruits.185 These results suggest
that good discrimination between organic and conventional fruit
of different species can be achieved by combining use of isotopic
and chemical markers.
The higher price of organic milk and the limitation of natural
resources has led to an increased risk of conventional milk being
fraudulently labeled as organic milk. Analysis of the stable isotope
ratio of carbon (𝛿 13 C) and 𝛼-linoleic acid (C18:3𝜔3) content in milk
fat is a useful indicator of organic milk.186 The stable isotope ratios
of light elements (𝛿 13 C, 𝛿 15 N and 𝛿 34 S) of organic and conventional
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Irish beef have been analyzed for the authentication of organic
beef using elemental analyzer (EA)-pyrolysis interfaced in contin-
uous flow (CF)-IRMS.187 Additionally, identification of organically
farmed Atlantic salmon has been analyzed by 𝛿 15 N value and the
content of linoleic acid.188 Carotenoid HPLC-DAD profiling com-
bined with k-nearest neighbor classification has been used to iden-
tify the organic or non-organic status of chicken eggs.189 Com-
bined discriminant techniques could be suitable and easily imple-
mented by the wine industry to classify wines produced with
organic systems.190
Dietary supplements
The amount of herbal medicine and dietary supplements on the
market is constantly increasing. The adulteration of plants used
to make herbal medicines and dietary supplements is a peren-
nial problem that has caused many disputes.191 Common issues
include the substitution of one ingredient for another, use of a
species other than that stated on the label, and the inclusion of
undeclared prescription and non-prescription drugs. Therefore,
the development of new and improved analytical methodolo-
gies for the detection and structural identification of adulterants,
including new/unknown analogues, is crucial when aiming to pro-
tect public health and ensure the quality of dietary supplements.
A search for undeclared and unauthorized substances frequently
reported in food supplements by European Union rapid alert sys-
tem for food and feed (RASFF) was carried out each year from 2009
to 2016. The most frequently found illegal ingredients in food sup-
plements in these years were sildenafil and its analogues, sibu-
tramine and its derivative, 1,3-dimethylamylamin, yohimbine and
tadalafil.192 In the review, HPLC-MS and high field NMR has been
suggested for the simultaneous detection and determination of
the above most illegal ingredients.
Bearberry [Arctostaphylos uva-ursi (L.)] is a well-known medicinal
plant, widely used to treat a variety of urinary disorders. Recently,
Arctostaphylos pungens has been fraudulently sold as bearberry
raw material. It has morphological characters that are similar to
A. uva-ursi and is marketed at a lower cost. Two typologies of
HPTLC fingerprints, confirmed by NMR and HPLC-DAD, can be used
to quickly detect the substitution of A. uva-ursiwith A. pungens in
bearberry products.193 Another interesting case study of dietary
supplement adulteration is related to Echinacea species mar-
keted for an immune modulating activity. RAPD markers are
capable of distinguishing the presence of Parthenium integri-
folium L., an adulterant of Echinacea angustifolia, at levels down
to 10 g kg−1 .194 Chemical investigation can be important for the
authentication of Actaea racemosa L., syn. Cimicifuga racemosa
L., better known as black cohosh and Garcinia cambogia. Black
cohosh and G. cambogia products are in growing demand as alter-
natives to estrogen therapy and as anti-obesity agents, although
they can be adulterated with similar but lower-priced species
(mainly Actaea cimicifuga L. and Garcinia indica). The identifica-
tion and quantification of adulteration in these dietary supple-
ments has been established by chromatographic and spectromet-
ric methods.195,196
Panax ginseng C.A. Meyer has been used as a traditional medic-
inal herb in Asia. Because the composition of ginseng roots
and commercial red ginseng concentrates can vary significantly
according to origin and age, it is important to discriminate
between ginseng roots from different sources. Several types of
technology have been introduced for the differentiation of the
geographical origin and cultivars of ginseng; the main methods
used are NMR, LC-MS/MS, electronic nose analysis and multiplex
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PCR.197 – 199 Recently, recognition has grown for the need to dis-
tinguish the dried roots of Cynanchum wilfordii (called Becksuo, in
Korea) from those of Cynanchum auriculatum in the Korean herbal
medicine market. Although C. wilfordii and C. auriculatum have
similar morphology, the types and quantities of their metabolites
differ. HPLC and UPLC-QTOF-MS-based metabolomics can discrim-
inate the roots of C. wilfordii and C. auriculatum.200,201 Moreover,
genotype analysis involving real-time PCR amplification can easily,
quickly and accurately distinguish the two species.202
CONCLUSIONS
Our review of the analytical methods used to examine these six
food categories supports the conclusion that challenges remain
with respect to the use of these techniques for industrial and reg-
ulatory purposes. In addition, food authentication is a multidisci-
plinary field that has input from the diverse areas of instrumenta-
tion, biology, informatics, mathematics and statistics, agriculture,
and food technology. Because the many embodiments of fraud
continue to evolve, there is a need for the development and refine-
ment of current analytical methods, as well as the development of
new technologies. Furthermore, to prevent and detect food fraud
and adulteration, a more comprehensive strategy that includes
reducing identified vulnerabilities, in addition to traditional food
safety concerns, is needed. Accordingly, all researchers, regulators
and food producers should continuously try to develop suitable
management tools and keep them up-to-date to prevent food
fraud in this rapidly changing environment.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This research was supported by a grant (14162MFDS971) from the
Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Korea in 2016.
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