Exploratory Monitoring of the Quality and Authenticity of Commercial Honey Sold in Libyan Markets

Abstract

Honey is a popular natural food product with a very complex composition comprising both organic and inorganic constituents. The composition of honey is strongly influenced by both natural and anthropogenic factors, which vary based on its botanical and geographical origins. Libya is endowed with a variety of multifloral sources of honey. However, there is paucity of information on the chemical composition of honey for some of the regions. For this study, ten different types of honey samples were collected from Misurata markets in Libya.The present study aimed to evaluate the physicochemical characteristics and quality of honey from different origins in Libya. Analysis of honey samples showed a wide variability, with samples from different honey sources being collected from different geographical origins. Citrus honey samples recorded the higher acidity and sidr honey samples recorded the lowest acidity, but all samples are still within the standard limit (pH 3.51 ± 0.08–4.95 ± 0.08). The electrical conductivity (EC) ranged from 0.21 ± 0.02 to 0.64 ± 0.07 ms/cm. The moisture content of honey samples ranged from 4.73 ± 0.72% to 7.7 ± 0.87%. Ash content ranged from 0.06 ± 0.003% to 0.26 ± 0.05%. Cypress honey showed the highest insoluble water solid content (0.087 ± 0.001 %) while the lowest value of insoluble water solid content was registered in thyme honey (0.021 ± 0.01 %). Samples of forest honey from the Shahat area showed the highest value of reducing sugars (82.76 ± 0.46 %), while sidr honey from the Misurata area showed the lowest value (48.5 ± 0.7%). The HMF and Sucrose contents of locally produced honeys ranged from 2.12±0.26 to 236.39± 5.56 mg kg- 1 and from 0.6 ± 0.81 to 1.70 ± 0.81, respectively. The results of this study showed that IR spectroscopy provides reliable results; furthermore, this research has provided the first insight into the infrared spectra of Libyan honeys. The quality of honey was found to vary based on the botanical origins, handling, transportation and storage conditions.