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A provenance study of coffee by photon activation analysis

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Abstract

Photon activation analysis (PAA) is a multi-elemental radioanalytical technique in trace elements analysis with high accuracy and precision. Researchers at the Idaho accelerator center performed PAA analysis on coffee samples from several locations around the world as an initial step in assessing the relationship between trace elements in illicit drugs and the soils in which they were grown. The preliminary results show coffees from different locations have different concentrations of trace elements. In the three cases where we have soil samples, the matrices of elements in the coffee samples are closely related to the matrices of the elements of the local soil samples. The majority of trace elemental content is similar to that of the local soil sample in which the coffee is planted. It may be that coffee assimilates numerous elements from the soil where it is grown in similar ratios as is found in the soil. Thus, it is conceivable that the elemental content could serve as “fingerprint” to trace the origins of the coffee. To verify our analytical results we applied X-ray fluorescence (XRF) methods as well. Our PAA results are consistent with XRF experimental data. The future of tracing the origin of illicit drugs with the PAA technique is promising.

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Acknowledgments

This work was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy under Grant No. DE-FC07-06 ID14780. The authors also thank Josie Thompson of the Foundation for Anthropological Research and Environmental Studies in Guatemala and some other colleagues in Republic of Colombia, who provided enormous assistance in collecting coffee beans and soil samples.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Idaho Accelerator Center, 1500 Alvin Ricken Drive, Pocatello, ID, 83201, USA

    Z. J. Sun, D. P. Wells, C. Segebade & H. Maschner

  2. Department of Physics, Idaho State University, 921 S. 8th Ave., Pocatello, ID, 83209-8106, USA

    Z. J. Sun & D. P. Wells

  3. Idaho Museum of Natural History, Idaho State University, 921 S. 8th Ave., Pocatello, ID, 83209-8096, USA

    H. Maschner

  4. Department of Anthropology, Idaho State University, 921 S. 8th Ave., Pocatello, ID, 83209-8005, USA

    H. Maschner & B. Benson

Authors
  1. Z. J. Sun
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  2. D. P. Wells
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  3. C. Segebade
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  4. H. Maschner
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  5. B. Benson
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Correspondence to Z. J. Sun.

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Sun, Z.J., Wells, D.P., Segebade, C. et al. A provenance study of coffee by photon activation analysis. J Radioanal Nucl Chem 296, 293–299 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-012-2021-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10967-012-2021-6

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