Geographical origin discrimination of Ethiopian sesame seeds by elemental analysis and chemometric tools

•PCA model shows some clustering of samples according to their respective origins.•LDA is very successful to discriminate the three sesame seed varieties originated in Ethiopia.•Multi-element analysis & statistical tools are effective way to discriminate sesame origins. Origin discrimination of sesame seeds is becoming one of the important factors for the sesame seed trade in Ethiopia as it influences the market price. This study was undertaken to construct accurate geographical origin discriminant models for Ethiopian sesame seeds using multi-element analysis and statistical tools. The concentration of 12 elements (Na, Mg, Cr, Mn, Fe, Cu, Co, Ni, Zn, Cd, As and Pb) were determined in 93 samples which were collected from three main sesame seed-producing regions in Ethiopia, Gondar, Humera and Wollega. According to a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), the concentration of 10 elements showing a significant difference (p