C, H, O, N Stable Isotope Analysis Coupled with Chemometrics for Geographic Origin Authentication of Pacific White Shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) in China

Pacific white shrimp (Litopenaeus vannamei) is a major aquaculture product worldwide. For consumers, discriminating domestic from imported sources of shrimp meat, and individual domestic sources, can be highly desirable because of the different meat quality and environmental contamination from geographically different origins of shrimp. This study evaluated the potential of stable isotope analysis (δ13C, δ15N, δ2H, δ18O) with chemometric models to authenticate the origins of Pacific white shrimp sold in China. Shrimp samples from domestic (Guangxi, Fujian, Shandong, Inner Mongolia) and foreign (Ecuador) sources were analyzed, using statistical analyses. The four-isotope model achieved 89.3% cross-validation accuracy in distinguishing domestic and foreign shrimp, with an overall prediction Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.901 (95% CI: 0.819–0.983)—significantly outperforming single-isotope models. Differences in δ13C and δ15N reflected feed source variations, while δ2H and δ18O (Variable Importance in the Projection (VIP) > 1, key discriminatory indicators) mirrored geographic environmental difference. Although δ15N did not differ significantly among groups, the combination of all four isotopes reduced limitations of individual δ2H/δ18O use. This approach enhanced the precision, reliability, and applicability of stable isotope analysis for origin authentication by leveraging complementary isotopic data and robust statistical frameworks. These findings demonstrate the proposed model’s potential as a cost-effective, copyright-compliant framework for shrimp origin authentication, with implications for isotopic traceability across food science fields.