Multivariate analysis of physico-chemical, bioactive, microbial and spectral data characterisation of Algerian honey

Abstract

Algeria is a country rich in natural resources; however, exports towards industrial countries required high food quality standards, which demand progresses within industry’s food control systems. This work was lead to evaluate the quality of 12 purchased honey samples from different origins from Algeria. Physicochemical properties, total flavonoid contents, antioxidant and antimicrobial activities by a spectrophotometric method and spectral print of honey by Raman microscopy and UV–Vis spectroscopy. The results obtained indicate a good quality level and good maturity. The discrimination between honey types was achieved by multivariate data analysis (principal component analysis and hierarchical cluster analysis). This study provides for the first time the Quantitative Spectrometric Variety-Activity Relationships (QSV-ARs) developed for predicting the antioxidant activities (DPPH and ABTS).