With the Steigbild technique patterns are produced on thin-layer chromatographic
paper and evaluated as a fingerprint of the sample as a whole. To be applied in routine
analysis the method has to be standardised according to international standard
norms. The operating procedures were documented and a method for the visual
evaluation was standardised. Then several factors of influence were tested and the
reproducibility was investigated. The method is able to differentiate patterns from
samples from different farming treatments and processing steps. Farm pairs of organic
and conventional farm management can be distinguished as statistical significant and
classified according to the farming system for carrot and wheat samples. This represents
a significant step forward beyond the state of the art
