Identification of the geographical origin of pumpkin seed oil by the use of rare earth elements and discriminant analysis

The aim of this work was to develop an analytical method to assure the geographical origin of Styrian pumpkin seed oil, a high priced local product which is protected by the European Union. The development of such a method is not only of interest for scientists but also of importance for producer that want to guarantee the purity and quality of their products as well as the consumer wanting to know the origin of the food products.Since the rare earth elements (REE) concentrations are extremely low in pumpkin seed oil a fast and sensitive analytical method with ICP-MS had to be developed and validated. In the current project, pumpkin seeds from different regions in Austria were sampled. The REE patterns in the extracted oil of these seeds were determined and a preliminary classification with discriminant analysis was successfully done on a statistical basis.The study demonstrates that pumpkin seed oils from different geographical origin show variable rare earth element patterns making it possible to trace the origin of these oils.