Tracking the Almond Variety by Means of ICP Analysis.

The is recognized all over the world as one of the best almond varieties. It is cultivated in a small area inside the provinces of Siracusa and Ragusa (Sicily, southern Italy). It is used in traditional Sicilian cuisine for both salty and sweet foods and of course in artisan pastry, apart from being consumed as a fruit.

On the Traceability of Honey by Means of Lanthanide Distribution.

Honey is a natural food appreciated all over the world since antiquity due to its well-recognised beneficial properties. However, it is also considered among the most counterfeited foods. Therefore, analytical methods are currently being developed to allow the verifying of its geographic provenance and its botanical origin.

The Use of UV-Visible Diffuse Reflectance Spectrophotometry for a Fast, Preliminary Authentication of Gemstones.

The identification of gemstones is an important topic in the field of cultural heritage, given their enormous value. Particularly, the most important precious stones, namely diamond, emerald, ruby and sapphire, are frequently subjected to counterfeit by substitution with objects of lesser value with similar appearance, colour or shape. While a gemmologist is able to recognise a counterfeit in most instances, more generally, it is not easy to do this without resorting to instrumental methods.

On the Traceability of the Hazelnut Production Chain by Means of Trace Elements.

The production chain of hazelnuts has been studied by analyzing three sets of samples produced in purity from three different pools of hazelnuts of cultivar "Tonda Gentile Trilobata", "Tonda Gentile Romana" and "Mortarella", all cultivated in Italy. From each pool, five processed products were obtained: roasted hazelnuts, hazelnut paste, hazelnut cream, Gianduja paste and Gianduiotto paste. After pre-treatment by means of dry ashing, all samples from each cultivar, including raw hazelnuts, were then analyzed by means of Inductively Coupled Plasma-Optical Emission Spectroscopy (ICP-OES) and Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS).