Authenticity Control of Turmeric and Cinnamon Samples Through the Determination of Fraud Indicators Using HPLC-UV and LC-MS/MS

N. Galanis¹, A. Bimpilas¹, G. Miliadis¹, C. Proestos², G. Seiragakis¹

1. TUV Austria Labs, 429 Mesogeion Av., Ag. Paraskevi, 15343, Greece.
2. Department of Chemistry, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.

Abstract: Food adulteration is a significant challenge for the quality and authenticity of traditional Greek products. This study, conducted within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan “Greece 2.0”, aimed to develop and validate reliable analytical methods using High-Performance Liquid Chromatography with Ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV) and Liquid Chromatography with Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to detect fraud indicators in turmeric and cinnamon. Curcumin and coumarin were selected as target analytes. A total of 82 turmeric samples (primarily from official import controls at the Port of Rotterdam) and 112 cinnamon samples from defined origins were analyzed. Method validation confirmed high sensitivity and accuracy. Statistical analysis (Grubb’s and Hampel’s tests) identified four turmeric samples (4.9%) as potential adulterants due to abnormally low curcumin content. For cinnamon, coumarin content proved to be a strong species marker, with C. verum (Sri Lanka) showing the lowest levels (46.5 mg/kg) and C. cassia (China) the highest (5,267.8 mg/kg). Three C. verum samples were statistical outliers, indicating potential adulteration or mislabeling. The methods proved highly effective for authenticity control in both commercial and official monitoring contexts.

Key Words: Food Authenticity, Adulteration, Turmeric, Cinnamon, Curcumin, Coumarin, LC-MS/MS, HPLC-UV.

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