Identification of the Geographical Origins of Sea Cucumbers in China: the Application of Stable Isotope Ratios and Compositions of C, N, O and H

The determination of the geographical origins of seafood is significant for food safety and health of consumers. It is necessary to develop a feasible method of identifying the geographical origins of sea cucumbers in China. In this study, 76 sea cucumbers collected from five different regions in China were analyzed for the stable isotope ratios and compositions of carbon (C), nitrogen (N), oxygen (O) and hydrogen (H). One way analysis of variance was adopted for the study of the differences in the stable isotope ratios and compositions of C, N, O and H in these sea cucumbers. The principal component analysis (PCA) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) were used as exploratory techniques and classification procedures, respectively. The one way analysis of variance showed that there was a significant difference (p < 0.05) in the stable isotope ratios and compositions of C, N, O and H in the sea cucumbers, which proved that the stable isotope ratios and compositions of C, N, O and H were useful in the identification of the origins of sea cucumbers. Based on the PCA, there was no clear distinction between the sea cucumbers from different regions. High recognition (93.4%) and satisfactory predictive ability (89.5%) were achieved with the LDA. The present findings suggest that the analysis of the stable isotope ratios and compositions of C, N, O and H combined with the statistical analysis could be potentially applied in the discrimination of the geographical origins of sea cucumbers.