Determination of the Geographical Origin of Wines by Means of the Mineral Content and the Stable Isotope Ratios: a Review

Numerous works have shown that the mineral composition of plants is influenced by the element levels in the ground, by fertilization methods, by the physiological aspects typical of the species from which they are produced, as well as by the technological conditions of production when it deals of transformation alimentary products. Therefore the multielement content method represents a valid tool for the determination of the origin of vegetable products. The current review contains the information present in literature concerning the influence of trace element concentration, or of minerals in general, and the stable isotope analysis in the geographical determination of wine origin. The most frequently used analytical techniques for mineral and isotope determination in wines are spettrophotometry by atomic absorption and the techniques evolved from it and the isotope ratio mass spectroscopy. The statistical techniques used are multivariate analysis, as PCA (principal component analysis), DA (discriminant analysis), CA (canonical analysis) and CLA (cluster analysis). These techniques have proven useful in the differentiation of wines and in their classification according to the place of origin. J. COMMODITY SCI. TECHNOL. QUALITY 2008, 47 (I-IV), 267-284 (*) Dipartimento di Scienze, Università “G. d’Annunzio”, Viale Pindaro, 42 – 65127 Pescara. 1 Online University Torrevecchia Teatina (CH), Italy. Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: phone: +39-085-453.75.03, Fax: +39-085-453.75.45, e-mail: [email protected].