Abstract:

Objective: To examine the feasibility of multi-element analysis in identifying the geographical origin of kidney
bean. Method: The concentrations of 20 chemical elements were determined using inductively coupled plasma-mass
spectrometry (ICP-MS) in kidney bean from different producing areas, and factor analysis and clustering analysis were
applied to analyze the obtained data. Results: The factor analysis results showed that the first and second factors accounted
for more than 50% of the total variance, indicating that Mg, Al, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, As, Sr, Y, Sb, Ba, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Sm,
Gd and Ca are the characteristic multi-elements in kidney bean. The results of clustering analysis showed that Yi’an and
Baiquan kidney bean belonged to two different categories. Conclusion: Mineral elements fingerprinttechnique can be used
for discrimination of the origin of kidney bean.

Key words: kidney bean, inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), mineral element, factor analysis, clustering analysis