Analysis of trace elements in southern Italian wines and their classification according to provenance

Wines from three important wine-producing Southern Italian regions (Basilicata, Calabria and Campania) were characterized according to their content in macro-, micro-elements and lanthanides. The elemental composition was used in multivariate statistical analysis to discriminate the wines according to geographical origin. A total of 61 elements were determined in 120 red wines produced in the years 2000–2002, and precisely 40 samples for each region. Results indicated that element analysis provides a good prospect for discriminating wines by regions, even if the element composition is not dependent on the year of production of wine. A Canonical Variate Analysis showed that the discrimination of wines according to their provenance is based on the following elements: Ag, B, Ca, Cd, Eu, Fe, Ga, La, Lu, Mn, Nd, Pr, Sm, Th, Tm, V, Yb, and Zr for Basilicata; Al, B, Fe, Mg, Mn, Ti, Tl, Sc and Zn for Calabria; Ba, Eu, K, I, Rb, and Tl for Campania.