Abstract:
This study established an integrated analytical strategy combining elemental profiling via inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and spectral fingerprinting via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) to discriminate geographical origins of
Larimichthys crocea (
L. crocea) from five coastal Chinese cities: Zhoushan, Taizhou, Wenzhou, Ningde, and Zhanjiang. Significant inter-origin variations (
P<0.05) were observed in the mass fractions of 13 key elements: aluminium (Al), titanium (Ti), chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), arsenic (As), selenium (Se), strontium (Sr), barium (Ba), mercury (Hg), lead (Pb), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), and tin (Sn). Region-specific elemental signatures were identified: Taizhou samples demonstrated maximal Al, Se, and Hg content with minimal As levels; Zhoushan samples contained peak Ni concentrations; Wenzhou samples exhibited significantly elevated Ti, Cr, Mn, and Sr alongside minimal Se; whereas Zhanjiang samples showed maximal As levels with suppressed Al, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Ba, and Pb.Multivariate chemometric analysis of the integrated ICP-MS/FTIR dataset, incorporating principal component analysis (PCA), cluster analysis (CA), and linear discriminant analysis (LDA), achieved precise discrimination among the five geographical origins. PCA revealed five distinct, non-overlapping clusters in the score plot (PC1/PC2 cumulative variance=74.7%). CA further confirmed independent clustering by origin. The LDA model achieved 100% accuracy in re-substitution validation and 97.3% in cross-validation. This work demonstrates that ICP-MS/FTIR integration augmented by chemometrics establishes a rapid, highly accurate platform for authenticating
L. crocea geographical origin, providing a robust framework for safeguarding aquatic geographical indications.