Methods of tracing and/or sourcing plant material
AssigneeArizona Board of Regents on behalf of Arizona State University
InventorsGwyneth GORDON, Joseph SKULAN, Odysseas LADOPOULOS
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed are methods of producing nutrient solutions having unique isotopic fingerprints; methods of producing traceable plants; and methods of identifying the source of a traceable plant that does not rely on expensive artificially separated isotopes. Plants grown with these nutrient solutions will have unique isotopic fingerprints that will be difficult or impossible to counterfeit.
Claims20
A method of identifying the source of a traceable plant, the method comprising:
- providing a sample from a plant selected from the group consisting of cannabis, ginseng, a gourmet mushroom, a gourmet garlic, and a rare herb;
- removing extrinsic material from the sample;
- measuring the radiogenic isotopic fingerprint and/or the mass-dependent isotopic fingerprint of the sample;
- and
- if the radiogenic isotopic fingerprint and/or the mass-dependent isotopic fingerprint of the sample matches the radiogenic isotopic fingerprint and/or the mass-dependent isotopic fingerprint of an enriched growth medium, identifying the user of the enriched growth medium as the source of the plant,
- wherein the enriched growth medium comprises:
- a first element selected from the group consisting of strontium (Sr), neodymium (Nd), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), potassium (K), boron (B), chlorine (Cl), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), zinc (Zn), and combinations thereof;
- a second element comprising nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) in an amount sufficient to support the growth of the plant;
- and
- a third element comprising stable isotopes wherein stable isotopes of the third element are present in a mixture that provides an isotopic fingerprint for tracing the source of the traceable plant and the mixture of stable isotopes is selected from the group consisting of 87Sr/86Sr, 87Sr/84Sr, 87Sr/88Sr, 143Nd/144Nd, 143Nd/142Nd, 143Nd/145Nd, 143Nd/146Nd, 143Nd/148Nd, 143Nd/150Nd, 42Ca/44Ca, 24Mg/26Mg, 25Mg/26Mg, 39K/41K, 11B/10B, 37Cl/35Cl, 65Cu/63Cu, 56Fe/57Fe, 56Fe/58Fe, 57Fe/58Fe, 55Mn/53Mn, 94Mo/95Mo, 94Mo/96Mo, 94Mo/97Mo, 95Mo/96Mo, 95Mo/97Mo, 96Mo/97Mo, 66Zn/67Zn, 66Zn/68Zn, 67Zn/68Zn, and combinations thereof.
A method of identifying the source of a traceable plant, the method comprising:
- providing a sample from a plant grown in an enriched growth medium;
- removing extrinsic material from the sample;
- measuring the radiogenic isotopic fingerprint and/or the mass-dependent isotopic fingerprint of the sample;
- and
- if the radiogenic isotopic fingerprint and/or the mass-dependent isotopic fingerprint of the sample matches the radiogenic isotopic fingerprint and/or the mass-dependent isotopic fingerprint of the enriched growth medium, identifying the user of the enriched growth medium as the source of the plant,
- wherein:
- the enriched growth medium comprises:
- a first element selected from the group consisting of strontium (Sr), neodymium (Nd), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), potassium (K), boron (B), chlorine (Cl), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), zinc (Zn), and combinations thereof;
- a second element;
- and
- a mixture of stable isotopes that provides an isotopic fingerprint for tracing a source of the traceable plant;
- and
- the mixture of stable isotopes is selected from the group consisting of 87Sr/86Sr, 87Sr/84Sr, 87Sr/88Sr, 143Nd/144Nd, 143Nd/142Nd, 143Nd/145Nd, 143Nd/146Nd, 143Nd/148Nd, 143Nd/150Nd, 42Ca/44Ca, 24Mg/26Mg, 25Mg/26Mg, 39K/41K, 11B/10B, 37Cl/35Cl, 65Cu/63Cu, 56Fe/57Fe, 56Fe/58Fe, 57Fe/58Fe, 55Mn/53Mn, 94Mo/95Mo, 94Mo/96Mo, 94Mo/97Mo, 95Mo/96Mo, 95Mo/97Mo, 96Mo/97Mo, 66Zn/67Zn, 66Zn/68Zn, 67Zn/68Zn, and combinations thereof.
A method of identifying the source of a traceable plant, the method comprising:
- inducing drought stress in a plant to produce a stressed plant;
- growing the stressed plant in an enriched growth medium to produce the traceable plant;
- providing a sample from the traceable plant;
- removing extrinsic material from the sample;
- measuring the radiogenic isotopic fingerprint and/or the mass-dependent isotopic fingerprint of the sample;
- and
- if the radiogenic isotopic fingerprint and/or the mass-dependent isotopic fingerprint of the sample matches the radiogenic isotopic fingerprint and/or the mass-dependent isotopic fingerprint of an enriched growth medium, identifying the user of the enriched growth medium as the source of the plant,
- wherein the enriched growth medium comprises a mixture of stable isotopes that provide an isotopic fingerprint for tracing a source of the traceable plant and the mixture of stable isotopes is selected from the group consisting of 87Sr/86Sr, 87Sr/84Sr, 87Sr/88Sr, 143Nd/144Nd, 143Nd/142Nd, 143Nd/145Nd, 143Nd/146Nd, 143Nd/148Nd, 143Nd/150Nd, 42Ca/44Ca, 24Mg/26Mg, 25Mg/26Mg, 39K/41K, 11B/10B, 37Cl/35Cl, 65Cu/63Cu, 56Fe/57Fe, 56Fe/58Fe, 57Fe/58Fe, 55Mn/53Mn, 94Mo/95Mo, 94Mo/96Mo, 94Mo/97Mo, 95Mo/96Mo, 95Mo/97Mo, 96Mo/97Mo, 66Zn/67Zn, 66Zn/68Zn, 67Zn/68Zn, and combinations thereof.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.