Determining the geographical origin of Chinese cabbages using multielement composition and strontium isotope ratio analyses

Recently, the Korean market has seen many cases of Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis) that have been imported from China, yet are sold as a Korean product to illegally benefit from the price difference between the two products. This study aims to establish a method of distinguishing the geographical origin of Chinese cabbage. One hundred Chinese cabbage heads from Korea and 60 cabbage heads from China were subjected to multielement composition and strontium isotope ratio (87Sr/86Sr) analyses. The 87Sr/86Sr ratio differed, based on the geological characteristics of their district of production. In addition, the content of many elements differed between cabbages from Korea and China. In particular, the difference in the content of Sr and Ti alone and the combination of Sr, Ca, and Mg allowed us to distinguish relatively well between Korea and China as the country of origin. The present study demonstrates that the chemical and Sr isotopic analyses exactly reflect the geology of the production areas of Chinese cabbage.