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Use of gamma spectroscopy for characterization and traceability of beans

Authors

Ubaldini A., Rizzo A., Ferrucci B., Telloli C., Ottaviano g. Year 2021

Pubblication type

Poster International Conference with referee

Abstract

The ϒ-ray spectroscopy is the quantitative study of the ϒ spectra of and finds applications in a very
large number of fields, from the astrophysics to the geochemistry. The radionuclides are instable
isotopes because of an excess of nuclear energy that must be released, leading to the formation of
more stable nuclides. One of the possible releasing mechanisms is the emission of gamma
radiation. A spectrum is characteristic, in terms of energies and intensities, of the nuclides present
and allows to determine their quantity and the nature of sample under investigation. This offers
the possibility of obtaining specific information, which can be acquired only with difficulty or even
not at all by other techniques.
This is also true in the field of food characterization and their traceability.
The traceability in the food industry has become a fundamental request for the modern society. It
consists in the ability of tracing any food, feed or substance used for consumption, through all
stages of production, processing and distribution. For this reason, it is essential to provide
transparency and safety to consumers who are demanding high quality products, with good
nutritional characteristics. In the same moment, it is also important for producers, because it
ensures certification and accreditation of their products. Traceability is indeed a way for ensuring
that all food products are safe.
In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to use specific experimental techniques, sometime
developing innovative solutions. In this paper, an application of the ϒ spectroscopy to the food
traceability is presented.
The gamma-emitting radionuclides can be used as markers for establishing correlations between
soil and plants. Actually, a plant cannot have a much different amount of radioisotopes and a
different isotopic composition than the soil in which it grows. This can make possible to trace a
product and ascertain the place where it was produced.
A study of the γ characterization of some Italian bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) varieties with different
geographic origins, using a portable AMETEK ORTEC High Purity Germanium (HPGe) Radiation
Detector, is presented.
Beans are suitable for this study because they are rich in potassium, which exists in nature with a
relatively high abundance of its radioactive isotope 40K. Its content in different parts of the plant,
such as seeds, pods, leaves, has been measured, along with the presence of other radioisotopes.

Reference

EGU General Assembly 2021, Vienna (Austria). Session Geochemical and isotopic methodologies for traceability and food security (ITS3.10/ERE1.7/BG2.22/SSS9.13)
EGU21-16291.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-16291

WEB Reference

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-16291

WEB Reference 2

https://www.egu21.eu/

Research unit

TRAC

LastUpdate

20/05/2021