{
  "abstract": "Monacolin K (MK) in red yeast rice (RYR) is structurally identical to pharmaceutical lovastatin in its lactone form, making their origins difficult to distinguish. This study examined the δ¹³C value of hydrolysis-derived 2-methylbutyric acid (2-MBA) as a fragment-specific screening marker using liquid chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectrometry (LC-IRMS). Within-day repeatability was 0.19‱ for RYR, interlaboratory standard deviations were 0.18-0.19‱, and a two-component expanded uncertainty estimate was ±0.58‱ (k = 2). Hydrolysis-derived 2-MBA ranged from -32.73‱ to -26.68‱ in 45 authentic RYR samples and from -10.17‱ to -6.87‱ in 23 pharmaceutical lovastatin batches. Controlled blends showed a linear relationship between δ¹³C and blend ratio (R² = 0.9997). A one-sided tolerance limit at 95% confidence and 99% population coverage gave an investigational screening threshold of -26.47‱ for the sampled Chinese authentic RYR population. Three of 20 commercial products exceeded this threshold and were classified as isotopically inconsistent with that population. Overall, this study developed and analytically evaluated a fragment-specific LC-IRMS approach for screening source-related isotope differences between RYR-derived MK and pharmaceutical lovastatin under the investigated conditions, providing a potential analytical tool for RYR authenticity assessment.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "College of Biotechnology, Tianjin University of Science and Technology, Tianjin 300457, China.",
    "Technology Innovation Center of Light Industrial Consumer Goods Quality and Safety for State Administration for Market Regulation, Sinolight Technology Innovation Center Co., Ltd., Beijing 100015, China.",
    "College of Chemistry and Life Science, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100022, China.",
    "Sinolight Inspection and Certification (Taiyuan) Co., Ltd., Taiyuan 030400, China."
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 11,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Zhuying Wu",
      "orcid": "0009-0000-6419-5191"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Daobing Wang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1,
        2
      ],
      "name": "Di Feng"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        3
      ],
      "name": "Yuan Shuang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Shanshan Zhao"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Xueyao Li"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Yuhan Tang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Guohui Li"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Lanqing Wang"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Qiding Zhong"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Cuiying Zhang"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a6ea6h8597x3c.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.3390/foods15203677",
  "fulltext_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13704346",
  "id": "a6ea6h8597x3c",
  "issns": [
    "2304-8158"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42940314",
  "language": "eng",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "1312|Identification and Quantification in Food"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7222500878",
  "pdf_url": "https://europepmc.org/articles/PMC13704346?pdf=render",
  "pmcid": "PMC13704346",
  "pmid": "42940314",
  "published": "2026-10-16",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a6ea6h8597x3c.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T12:22:12Z",
      "native_id": "MED:42940314",
      "source": "europepmc",
      "url": "https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42940314"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biochemistry",
      "origin": "openalex:1312|Identification and Quantification in Food",
      "subfield": "molecular-biology"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Fragment-Specific Stable Carbon Isotope Analysis for Screening the Authenticity of Red Yeast Rice Products.",
  "title_text": "Fragment-Specific Stable Carbon Isotope Analysis for Screening the Authenticity of Red Yeast Rice Products.",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-10-30T12:22:12Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/a6ea6h8597x3c",
  "venue": "Foods (Basel, Switzerland)",
  "versions": []
}