The use of nitrogenstable isotope technique to id

Authors: Jingyu Huang Philip N Nkrumah Gloria AppiahSefah

Publish Date: 2013/03/27

Volume: 8, Issue: 1-2, Pages: 45-50

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Abstract

The production of Lleucine from pure botanical sources is expensive and time consuming Hence most fraudulent manufacturers in China use cheap and sometimes unwholesome sources of raw materials such as human hair and duck feathers in its production Consequently major concerns on health economic religious legal and allergic reaction cases have been raised about this economically motivated adulteration Notably consumers of dietary supplements across the globe are beginning to request for nonanimal and nonhuman sources Hence the prediction of the respective sources is essential for consumer protection Therefore this study provides discrimination between leucine derived from human hair and pure botanical sources as well as other sources such as duck feathers and pig fur by using the nitrogen stable isotope technique An elemental analyzer which was connected to an isotope ratio mass spectrometer operated in the continuous flow mode was utilized Statistical analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and oneway ANOVA The results obtained showed δ15N values between 824 and 846 ‰ for the Lleucine extracted from human hair whereas ranges of 082–223 541–547 and 588–601 ‰ were recorded for that of maize pig fur and duck feather samples respectively It was shown that there is a clear difference between the δ15N composition of Lleucine extracted from human hair and the other sources The difference confirms the predictable trophic enrichment of δ15N composition of organisms in a food web This study adds to the efforts already in place to help curb food safety menaceThe authors are grateful for the financial support from the National Program on Key Basic Research Project of China 2012CB719800 the Natural Science Foundation of China 51208177 and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities 2012B03414 We also appreciate the contribution of Chengdu Keyuan Biotechnology Co Ltd Sichuan China The authors would also like to acknowledge Dr Saskia Dombrowski and the anonymous reviewer for their constructive criticisms that really improved the quality of the manuscript The authors thank Jennifer Abena Kwofie Desmond Ofosu Anim and Akosua Korantemaa Agadzi for their assistance

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