Characterization of honeys by their botanical and geographical origins based on physico-chemical properties and chemo-metrics analysis

Abstract

Honey, because of its nutritional and medicinal values, is in high demand and has become one of the important commodities. However, the issue of its quality and authenticity remain as important factors in consumption and marketing of honey. To assess the possibility of discriminating honeys by their geographical and botanical origins; 30 fresh honey samples of different botanical and geographical origins were collected and their major physico-chemical properties such as: total dissolved sugar (TDS), total ash, sugar profile, acidity, metallic ions and electric conductivity (EC) were investigated. The data was subjected to different chemo-metric (Hierarchical Cluster, Principal components and stepwise discriminant) analysis. Among the 23 characters used in the analysis; only 11 (TDS, EC, acidity, total ash, colour, and some specific metallic ions) characters have showed significant variations among different origin honeys. According to the stepwise discriminant analysis; 11 variables confirmed the grouping of the honey samples into four cluster groups based on their botanical and geographical origins. The clustering of the honeys associated with dominant plant source & climatic conditions of their origins. The study generally revealed the successful discrimination of honeys into their botanical and geographical provenances using fewer physico-chemical characters supported with melissopalynological data through applying suitable chemo-metric analysis.