Determination and authentication of the geographical origin of food products have recently become relevant in investigations against frauds for consumer protection. Studies on territoriality are based on the hypothesis that chemical elements detected in plants and their products reflect those contained in the soil. Geographical features of the production area are considered relevant factors affecting the specific designation such as the composition of the parent rock, soil-forming process, climate, topography, and land use. As suggested by Pepi et al (2017; 2018), geochemical characterization, based on the determination of major and trace elements, is commonly used to establish the geographical origin of products. This work aims to present a preliminary study on soil samples to establish a method to identify the geographical origin of two different types of red chicory (long-leaves and round-leaves). Granulometric analysis and the major element composition, on a set of 12 samples of agricultural soils from the southern Po Delta area were used for local soil characterization. The samples come from a site located in Massenzatica (Municipality of Mesola, Province of Ferrara, NE of Italy) and sampling has been undertaken between October and December 2020 in different fields: 6 samples came from two fields inside the area of the Consorzio Uomini di Massenzatica (CUM), where the other 6 came from an area outside CUM. Grain size analysis shows a high similarity for all samples, with an average amount of sand of 85.76% (±1.47), 10.11% (±1.52) of Silt and 4.13% (±0.77) of Clay. According to USDA classification, the samples can be classified as Loamy Sand and Sand. Concerning the major element compositions (SiO2 , Fe2O3, CaO, MgO, Al2O3), the samples are comparable, and aluminium plays an important role as a constituent of the clay fraction of soil, as a good reference element. Differences emerge when alkaline elements (K2O, Na2O) are considered: K concentration discriminates in the soil characterization between the two cultivated varieties
Geochemical characterization and granulometric analysis of agricultural soils as a tool for geographical origin identification: preliminary results from the case study of Massenzatica
Marrocchino E.
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
;Ferretti G.;Tessari U.;Vaccaro C.Supervision
2021
Abstract
Determination and authentication of the geographical origin of food products have recently become relevant in investigations against frauds for consumer protection. Studies on territoriality are based on the hypothesis that chemical elements detected in plants and their products reflect those contained in the soil. Geographical features of the production area are considered relevant factors affecting the specific designation such as the composition of the parent rock, soil-forming process, climate, topography, and land use. As suggested by Pepi et al (2017; 2018), geochemical characterization, based on the determination of major and trace elements, is commonly used to establish the geographical origin of products. This work aims to present a preliminary study on soil samples to establish a method to identify the geographical origin of two different types of red chicory (long-leaves and round-leaves). Granulometric analysis and the major element composition, on a set of 12 samples of agricultural soils from the southern Po Delta area were used for local soil characterization. The samples come from a site located in Massenzatica (Municipality of Mesola, Province of Ferrara, NE of Italy) and sampling has been undertaken between October and December 2020 in different fields: 6 samples came from two fields inside the area of the Consorzio Uomini di Massenzatica (CUM), where the other 6 came from an area outside CUM. Grain size analysis shows a high similarity for all samples, with an average amount of sand of 85.76% (±1.47), 10.11% (±1.52) of Silt and 4.13% (±0.77) of Clay. According to USDA classification, the samples can be classified as Loamy Sand and Sand. Concerning the major element compositions (SiO2 , Fe2O3, CaO, MgO, Al2O3), the samples are comparable, and aluminium plays an important role as a constituent of the clay fraction of soil, as a good reference element. Differences emerge when alkaline elements (K2O, Na2O) are considered: K concentration discriminates in the soil characterization between the two cultivated varietiesI documenti in SFERA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
