foods Article Statistical Analysis of Mineral Concentration for the Geographic Identification of Garlic Samples from Sicily (Italy), Tunisia and Spain Rossella Vadalà 1, Antonio F. Mottese 1, Giuseppe D. Bua 1, Andrea Salvo 1,*, Domenico Mallamace 1, Carmelo Corsaro 2,3, Sebastiano Vasi 3, Salvatore V. Giofrè 4, Maria Alfa 1, Nicola Cicero 1,5,* and Giacomo Dugo 1,5,* 1 Department of Biomedical and Dental Sciences and Morphofunctional Imaging, University of Messina, V.le F. Stagno d’Alcontres 31, Messina 98166, Italy;
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[email protected] (M.A.) 2 IPCF- CNR of Messina, Viale F. Stagno d’Alcontres 37, Messina 98158, Italy;
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[email protected] (G.D); Tel.: +39-090-6765-180 Academic Editor: Emilie Combet Received: 18 January 2016; Accepted: 4 March 2016; Published: 15 March 2016 Abstract: We performed a statistical analysis of the concentration of mineral elements, by means of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), in different varieties of garlic from Spain, Tunisia, and Italy. Nubia Red Garlic (Sicily) is one of the most known Italian varieties that belongs to traditional Italian food products (P.A.T.) of the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry.