Abstract
Honey maturity, a critical factor for quality evaluation, is difficult to detect in the current industry research. The objective of this study was to explore the changes in the composition and find potential maturity indicators of rape honey at different maturity stages through evaluating physicochemical parameters (moisture, sugars, pH, electrical conductivity, total protein, total phenols, total flavonoids, proline, and enzyme activity), the antioxidant capacity, and volatile components. The relevant results are as follows: 1. As the maturity increased, the moisture, sucrose, and maltose content of rape honey gradually decreased, while the glucose, fructose, and total protein content gradually increased. The activities of diastase, invertase, and β-glucosidase showed a significant increase with the elevation of ripening days, and the activity of glucose oxidase reached the highest before completely capping. 2. The antioxidant capacity of honey increased with the increase in honey maturity. There is a significant and strong correlation between the bioactive components of rape honey and antioxidant capacity (p < 0.01, |r| > 0.857). 3. Thirty-five volatile components have been identified. Nonanal, benzaldehyde monomer, and benzaldehyde dimer can be used as potential indicators for the identification of honey maturity stages. Principal component analysis (PCA) based on antioxidant parameters and volatile components can identify the maturity of honey.
Highlights
Honey, the natural sweet substance, is produced by honey bees from plant nectar or from plant secretions or honeydew of plant-sucking insects (Hemiptera), which the bees collect, transform by mixing with their secretions, and place them into the cells of honey comb to mature [1,2]
We found that with the increase in honey maturity, the glucose and fructose content showed a generally rising trend, while the sucrose and maltose content showed an overall decline trend
In order to find out the indicators of honey maturity, we collected rape honey of different maturity stages, and conducted experiments from three aspects: physicochemical parameters, antioxidant activity and volatile components
Summary
The natural sweet substance, is produced by honey bees from plant nectar or from plant secretions or honeydew of plant-sucking insects (Hemiptera), which the bees collect, transform by mixing with their secretions, and place them into the cells of honey comb to mature [1,2]. Some beekeepers in China harvest raw honey every 2 or 3 days in order to increase honey production. The maturity of honey has a great impact on its quality. Immature honey (uncapped honey) restricts the healthy development of the honey market. Due to the lack of methods to distinguish between mature honey and immature honey, mature honey cannot be of high quality and price, and the proportion of mature honey in China in total honey production is still low
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