Multielement analysis of argentinean lemon juices by instrumental neutronic activation analysis and their classification according to geographical origin

Multielement analysis of lemon juices from different Argentinean regions was carried out by instrumental neutronic activation analysis (INAA) with the aim at developing a reliable method in the traceability of the origin of lemon juices. This work presents a characterization of 44 lemon juice samples selected from three different geographical origins in the Northwest region of Argentina. Multivariate chemometric techniques such principal component analysis and lineal discriminant analysis (LDA) were used with the aim of classifying the juices and identifying the most significant parameters. Eleven elements were determined (Br, As, Na, Rb, La, Cr, Sc, Fe, Co, Zn, and Sb). The analytical method was validated by analyzing the standard reference material IAEA V-10 (hay powder); the results are within +/-10% of the reported values for the majority of the elements. Biplots of LDA scores for the INAA data illustrate clear separation between each sample.