Adulteration of honey with high-fructose corn syrup: Detection by different methods

Abstract

Pure honey was deliberately adulterated with high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) at levels of 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, and 50% (w/w). Sugar composition as a fingerprint was determined by HPLC for all samples. The following compositional properties were determined for pure and adulterated honey: moisture, total soluble solids, nitrogen, apparent viscosity, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), ash, sodium, calcium, potassium, proline, refractive index and diastatic activity. Statistical analysis revealed that the following compositional properties were highly significantly negatively correlated with sugar composition: dry matter, apparent viscosity, sodium, potassium, proline, and nitrogen. In contrast, ash, calcium, HMF, and moisture were highly significantly positively correlated with sugar composition for pure and adulterated honey. Accordingly, such simple tests can be applied as good indicators for detecting the adulteration of honey with HFCS at adulteration levels ranging from 10% to 50%.