nir-vana innovation network

A Serbian company is specialized in the field of authentication, verification and geographical identification of wine, strong spirits, honey, fruit juices/concentrates and other food products from plant origin using innovative isotopic methodologies and conventional methods of analysis.
It has developed a new isotope method for analysis of wine, grape must, honey, fruit juices/concentrates and alcoholic beverages and has implemented in quality control system for detection of illegal production practices, determination of geographical origin and differentiation of raw materials used in wine-making and alcoholic beverages sectors, sugar/confectionery, honey production as well as fruit juices industry.
The company provides authenticity programmes of testing food products and alcoholic beverages using modern well-equipped laboratory facility in Pančevo (Serbia) for local and international clients as producers, distributors, private and state laboratories, food associations, consumer protection organizations etc.
The company takes part as the industrial partner in research and innovation staff exchange project (Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions) on the period of 2021-2024. In the framework of this project the company has been building a strong connection with academic, SMEs partners and producers from Turkey, Poland, Germany, Pakistan, UK, Belarus, Chile, and SA.
In March 2021 the CEO of the company as a technical expert of the Serbian delegation in the OIV has presented its innovative isotopic method which was supported by other country-members as a draft for new International resolution for wine and grape juice authenticity.
At this stage the company has scientific cooperation with 5 specialized isotope laboratories in the world: US, Austria, Hungary, China, and Russia.
Its team members are engineers and PhDs in the field of a food and alcoholic beverages technologies with more than 16 years of experience in a quality control system. The company is in a process of developing a new application for its innovative method which will be apply to another type of food products (e.g. dairy products).
The innovation technology on offer: its innovative method is based on measurement of relative ratio of non-exchangeable hydrogen stable isotopes in ethanol previously quantitatively extracted from samples (or fermented samples) and used to examine and certify the authenticity and origin of wine, honey, fruit juice/concentrates and strong spirits beverages. Obtained results for a specific sample are always precise, repeatable and provide a distinct “isotopic product fingerprint”.
This innovative method is capable to determine a geographical origin of a product by comparing studied samples with a reference database, uncover a presence of sugar/sugar syrups from C3- and/or C4- plant, distinguish origin of sugar from C3-plant as well and detect water addition in final product.
This innovative method has proven to be much faster (time of measurement approx. 8 min per sample) and significantly more accurate (easy to interpret results) than the SNIF-NMR method used for wine and honey authenticity testing. This innovation is able to provide a unique “Isotopic Fingerprint” of strong spirits as well, which is impossible to replicate.
The company is interested in outsourcing agreement. The company will offer to perform different kind of analytical programmes in their laboratory facility using the innovative and conventional methodologies depending of a client’s request. This kind of agreement would be the most convenient way to connect industrial partner needs with the service-provider.

Advantages & innovations

The company has: • Well-equipped laboratory facility with an innovative analytical equipment based on isotopic mass spectrometry and chromatography • Experts with more than 16 years of experience in the field of food technologies and authenticity of products and alcoholic beverages • Supported method by the OIV as a draft for future International standard for a detection illegal practices in wine production. The analytical peripheral which is realized the innovative approach was already installed in 6 laboratories: Serbia, US, Austria, Hungary, Russia, and China The offered laboratory service has following advantages: • Specific developed analytical programmes for each type of food products using innovative science-proved methodologies (isotopic and conventional) for known and unknown origin samples • Formation of “isotopic fingerprint” of an individual product/batch using carbon, oxygen and hydrogen isotope ratios in one laboratory facility. Other labs could provide one or two isotopic parameters without an interpretation of a results • Possibility to specify a geographical origin of food products through a correlation between two isotopic parameters (δ18O/16O of ethanol and water of a product) • The company could create an isotopic database for authentic client’s samples (batch and/or unique samples), which can be used for a comparison of data from commercial products with them The innovation has following advantages: • The developed isotopic methodology is unique method which is capable to determinate a presence of sugars from C3-/C4-plant origin and exactly differentiate between sugars of C3- based industrial plants • The time of its isotopic analysis is approx. 8 min per sample in comparison with SNIF-NMR method (3-4 hours per sample). • Its unique method could detect an addition of water in final product (e.g. wine). Existed methods can’t provide exactly information of watering final product.

Stage of development

Already on the market

Partner sought

Type: Industry and academia 1. Commercial private or state owned laboratories 2. Scientific organizations 3. Official state inspections or customs 4. Consumer protection organizations 5. Associations/unions of organic and/or traditional food 6. Wine producers 7. Fruit juice/concentrate producers 8. Honey distributors or manufacturers 9. Strong spirit producers Activity: Companies and institutions from agrofood sector as commercial or state owned laboratories, R&D Institutes, consumer protection agencies and others which are active in quality control assessment process, traceability of food products, protection of consumers and a brand name of food products. Wine, fruit juice/concentrate and strong spirits producers, honey distributors and manufacturers, customs, state inspections are all potential clients and end users of our analytical services of food authenticity studies and/or its geographical indication on the base of an outsourcing agreement. Role: It is expected from future client to deliver the number of food samples with an indication what type of analytical programmes would be done by the company. All relevant information would be agreed between stakeholders in a signed outsourcing contract.