Study on Strontium Isotope Characteristics in Plants: Providing Reference for Food Production Area Traceability

Tracing agricultural products’ origin via ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr is critical for food quality. This study identifies optimal proxy samples for baseline maps by analyzing Sr isotopes in three vegetation life-forms (perennial herbs, shrubs, trees) and their soils under diverse parent materials. The results indicate significant differences in Sr-isotopic composition between roots and soils, likely due to the heterogeneous geological origin of eolian soils. Trees and shrubs grown on residual parent materials exhibit homogeneous isotopic signatures across organs, with ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios strongly correlated (R² > 0.85) with mixed surface vegetation samples. Thus, this study demonstrates that ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr isoscapes constructed from multispecies vegetation sampling overcome methodological constraints arising from seasonal variations in agricultural traceability. These findings establish a theoretical foundation for a cross-plant-type origin-tracing framework capable of harmonizing divergent crop data sets and have implications for refining the methodology of botanical Sr sourcing.