Ensuring the Integrity of the European food chain

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Publications

Applicability of HRM analysis for carnaroli rice authentication based on polymorphisms of the waxy gene

Publication . Grazina, Liliana; Costa, Joana; Amaral, Joana S.; Garino, Cristiano; Arlorio, Marco; Oliveira, Beatriz; Mafra, Isabel

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is a staple food and one of the most important cereals in the worldwide. Italy, the leading rice producer in Europe, holds nearly 200 different varieties in the available germplosm [1]. The Carnaroli rice is a high quality and priced variety belonging to the group of ja ponica ecotype, produced mainly in Piedmont. it is considered one of the finest Italian rice varieties due to its excellent cooking resistance, given by a low tendency to lose starch and a good ability to absorb liquid while creaming, being, thus, ideal for the preparation of traditional risotto. Italian rice varieties hove different characteristics, from which the starch composition is a highly relevant parameter. Together with amylopectin, amylose is the main component of starch, whose ratio is determinant for the rice cooking properties. After cooking, varieties with high amylose content have dry, firm and separate groins, while low amylose ones usually hove tender, cohesive and glossy texture [2]. Amylose synthesis is catalysed by the granule bound starch synthase (GBSS) that is encoded by the Waxy gene (Wx), being located on the chromosome 6. Various nucleotide polymorphisms have been associated with the Wx gene, namely (CT)n repeats and several single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) [2]. The aim of this work was to propose a new method based on high resolution melting (HRM) analysis, exploiting those polymorphisms to differentiate Carnaroli rice from other closely related varieties.

2018Conference object

Open access

A comprehensive review on the main honey authentication issues: production and origin

Publication . Soares, S.E.F; Amaral, Joana S.; Oliveira, Beatriz; Mafra, Isabel

Honey is a highly consumed natural product, not only for its taste and nutritional value, but also for its health benefits. Owing to characteristics that are essentially or exclusively related to the specific region or particular local environment and flora, honey can be classified as a premium product generally perceived as a high‐quality and valued product because of its desirable flavor and taste. Consequently, honey has been a target of adulteration through inappropriate/fraudulent production practices and mislabeling origin. Globally, authentication of honey covers 2 main aspects: the production, with main issues related to sugar syrup addition, filtration, thermal treatment, and water content; and the labeled origin (geographical and/or botanical) and “organic” provenance. This review addresses all those issues, focusing on the approaches to detect the different types of honey adulteration. Due to the complex nature of honey and to the different types of adulteration, its authentication has been challenging and prompted the development of several advanced analytical approaches. Therefore, an updated, critical, and extensive overview on the current and advanced analytical methods targeting markers of adulteration/authenticity, including nontarget fingerprint approaches will be provided. The most recent advances on molecular, chromatographic, and spectroscopic methodologies will be described, emphasizing their pros and cons for the identification of botanical and geographical origins.

2017Journal article

Restricted access

Differentiation of production method and geographical origin of salmon based on the analysis of fatty acid composition

Publication . Amaral, Joana S.; Grazina, Liliana; Nunes, Maria; Mafra, Isabel; Rodrigues, Pedro João; Igrejas, Getúlio; Oliveira, Beatriz

Currently, aquaculture production supplies almost 50% of the global fish market, as a response to the increasing global demand for fish [1]. However, several consumers prefer wild over farmed fish, with the former generally attaining higher prices when the some species is considered. Therefore, there is the need to assure correct information, not only about the species, but also about the production method (farmed vs. wild) and the catch origin of fish. Salmon, a high-trophic - level carnivorous species with high economic value due to its popularity, is among the fish species that is frequently produced in aquoculture. Although the feed given to farm-raised salmon is designed to meet its nutritional requirements, it can present differences compared to the diet of wild salmon that con be reflected on the muscle composition of formed versus wild solmons. Therefore, in this work, the use of fatty acid composition combined with chemometrics was evaluated as a potential tool to authenticate salmon samples. In particular, the work aimed at identifying the geographical origin and production method (farmed vs. caught in the wild) of salmon.

2018Conference object

Open access

Authentication of carnaroli rice by HRM analysis targeting nucleotide polymorphisms in the Alk and Waxy genes

Publication . Grazina, Liliana; Costa, Joana; Amaral, Joana S.; Garino, Cristiano; Arlorio, Marco; Mafra, Isabel

Carnaroli is a high quality and priced variety, being considered as one of the finest Italian rice varieties due to its sensorial and rheological properties and, thus being a potential adulteration target. The present work aimed at exploiting polymorphisms in the Alk (A/G and GC/TT in exon 8) and Waxy ((CT)n and G/T in intron 1) genes by HRM analysis to differentiate Carnaroli rice from closely related varieties. The HRM method targeting the Alk gene did not allow gathering the Carnaroli subgroup genotypes in the same cluster. The HRM approach targeting Waxy gene successfully discriminated the varieties sold as Carnaroli from all the others with high level of confidence (>98%), which corroborated sequencing data. Its applicability to commercial rice samples was successful. Therefore, the proposed new HRM method can be considered a simple, specific, high-throughput and cost-effective tool for the authentication of Carnaroli rice, contributing to valorise such premium variety.

2022Journal article

Open access

Exploiting polymorphisms in the Waxy and Alk genes of Italian rice varieties to identify DNA markers for Carnaroli authentication

Publication . Grazina, Liliana; Costa, Joana; Amaral, Joana S.; Garino, Cristiano; Arlorio, Marco; Oliveira, Beatriz; Mafra, Isabel

Rice (Oryzasativa L) is one of the most important cereals in the world, being Italy its main producer in Europe with nearly 200 different varieties present in the germplasm [1] Italian rice varieties have different characteristics, from which the starch composition is a highly relevant parameter.

2017Conference object

Open access