Origin Determination of Eastern Oyster (Crassostrea virginica) by Combination of Heavy Metal Concentrations, Whole-Body Bulk and Compound Specific Isotope Analyses

摘要

This study successfully compared bulk and compound specific isotope ratios of C. virginica whole-body samples. Bulk analysis of carbon and nitrogen isotopes was only partially capable of discriminating different oyster harvesting locations. Amino-acid-specific isotopic measurements from whole-body oysters can be successfully used to discriminate between different harvest regions, and the addition of Pb and Cd data somewhat improves this discrimination. Further analyses with more samples per region will provide a better classification success. After further validation, this work could be applied in a forensic context to: 1. the identification of boutique and counterfeit brand oysters; 2. the determination of legal/illegal harvesting areas of oysters; 3. defend consumers from food borne infections.