Fingerprint targeted compounds in authenticity of sugarcane honey - An approach based on chromatographic and statistical data

Abstract

Sugarcane honey (SCH) is a black syrup recognized by its excellent quality, being produced in Madeira Island using the regional sugarcane cultivars and following a traditional and peculiar manufacturing and storage processes. However, some low-quality commercial products have been labeled as SCH but do not respect its criteria, revealing the need of develop powerful strategies in order to detect and prevent adulterations. The knowledge of furanic derivatives (FDs) profile, produced during browning reactions that occurs during food processing and storage, emerged as a promising strategy in food quality and fraud prevention. Therefore, the aim of this study was to establish the FDs profiling of typical SCH produced by certified and non-certified producers, in different geographical regions (Madeira and Brazil), based on microextraction by packed sorbent (MEPS) combined with ultra-high performance liquid chromatography (UHPLC) as a useful approach to define its typicality and authenticity. These parameters are defined through the differentiation and discrimination of FDs profiles among other sugarcane-derived products using multivariate statistical analysis (ANOVA with post-hoc Tukey, principal components analysis, partial least square, linear discriminant analysis and hierarchical clustering). The results demonstrated that SCH samples from non-certified producers present the highest levels of FDs. In addition, SCH samples from Brazil present higher levels of FDs than samples from Madeira region. The obtained results revealed that the proposed approach is a valuable strategy to establish the typicality of SCH, ensuring its quality, authenticity, safety control and a useful support regarding the application of SCH from Madeira Island to EU certification.