The application of stable isotope ratio analysis to determine the geographical origin of wheat

In this work, in order to discriminate the geographical origin of wheat, δ13C and δ15N values of 35 wheat samples originated from different regions were determined, using the method of element analyser–stable isotope ratio mass spectrometry. The results indicated that wheat from Australia, the USA, Canada and China could be potentially discriminated by using analyte δ13C and δ15N. δ13C values of wheat were ranged from −25.647‰ to −22.326‰, the δ15N values of 35 wheat samples were calculated between 1.859‰ and 7.712‰. Moreover, the results illustrated regional distributions of δ15N values of wheat as Australia > The USA > Jiangsu province of China > Shandong province of China > Canada. So δ13C and δ15N analysis would be potentially useful for rapid and routine analyses of geographical origin of wheat, even the cereal grains. In order to confirm the discrimination capability of δ13C and δ15N, a follow-up work will use this method to analyse a larger set of samples.