Quality Control Of Honey Research Articles

Screening for Plant Toxins in Honey and Herbal Beverage by Ultrahigh-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Ion Mobility-Quadrupole Time of Flight Mass Spectrometry

The standards of plant toxins were separated by a C18 column with gradient elution with 0.1% formic acid/water (V/V) and 0.1% formic acid/acetonitrile (V/V) as mobile phase and acquired by ion mobility-quadrupole time of flight mass spectrometry (IM-QTOF MS) in positive ion mode. A database of 308 plant toxins including retention time, collision cross-section (CCS) and its fragment ions was established. Honey dissolved in water or herbal beverage was extracted by acetonitrile and purified with PSA sorbent, and then acquired by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography IM-QTOFMS. The acquired data were processed by comparing with the database we established to confirm the target compounds. The average recoveries for samples at two levels ranged from 60.6% - 120.1%, with relative standard deviation (n = 6) less than 25%. The limit of quantitation for plant toxins ranged from 1 - 20 μg/kg. The developed screening method was used in determination of honey, herbal beverage and honey flavored tea beverage samples. The results showed that berberine was detected in one honey with 1 μg/kg and caffeine was present in some beverages with the concentration from 200 and 5500 μg/kg. This method could meet the requirement for rapid screening of plant toxins in honey and herbal beverage. It can be used for the quality control of honey and herbal beverage in enterprises or quality inspection departments. It also can be used in the rapid screening of food poisoning.

Classification of stingless bee honey based on species, dehumidification process and geographical origins using physicochemical and ATR-FTIR chemometric approach

Stingless bee honey has been well recognized and consumed due to its nutritional and therapeutic values. This study investigated the physicochemical properties and chemical profiles of Malaysian stingless bee honey from different species, dehumidification process, and geographical origins using chemometric techniques. In total, 122 samples were collected from different species across different states in Malaysia. The range for each of the physicochemical properties in the studied samples was as stipulated by the Malaysian standard. However, a significantly different (p < 0.05) in the value of free acidity (FA), pH, and ash content (AC) was observed between honeys obtained from the species of Heterotrigona itama and Geniotrigona thoracica. The attenuated total reflection Fourier–transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) chemometrics showed that the wavenumbers at 2934, 1400, 1040, and 1256 cm−1 were more prominent in H. itama and G. thoracica, whereas the predominant wavenumbers at 600 – 900 cm−1 were observed in Tetrigona apicalis. The chemometric analyzes showed the reliability of physicochemical properties and ATR-FTIR to differentiate the stingless bee honey on the basis of the dehumidification process and geographical origins but not by species. The findings indicate the potential use of the ATR-FTIR-based chemometric approach in the classification and quality control of Malaysian stingless bee honey besides the existing physicochemical analysis.

Physicochemical properties of Honey from Traditional Beekeepers of Sohra

Objective: To determine the physicochemical properties of honey to help ascertain its quality. The properties investigated in the present work are specific gravity, refractive index, moisture content, total solids, pH, free acidity, electrical conductivity, and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF). Methods/Statistical analysis: To determine properties of honey such as refractive index, moisture content, pH, free acidity, electrical conductivity, and hydroxymethylfurfural, the procedures prescribed by the International Honey Commission were followed. Specific gravity was determined using the method described by Rebiai et al. Total solids was calculated by the formula given by Amin et al. Statistical analyses were carried out in Microsoft Excel 2016, and all readings were presented as mean±standard deviation. Correlation studies were also used wherever applicable. Findings: The moisture content lies in the range (16.6±0.4) g/100g to (19.4±0.3) g/100g. The total solids of all honey samples were above 80%. The pH varies from (3.59±0.02) to (3.73±0.01). The free acidity recorded a minimum of (32.3±1.5) meq/kg and a maximum of (42.0±2.0) meq/kg. The honey samples recorded electrical conductivities between (0.51±0.15) mS/cm and (0.61±0.25) mS/cm. The HMF varies from (8.9±0.2)mg/kg to (34.2±0.2) mg/kg. All the properties that were measured were well within the range prescribed by international agencies responsible for the quality control of Honey. Novelty: Adulteration of honey is a major concern as it affects the health and well being of a person. The recent study by the Centre for Science and Environment, New Delhi which reported adulteration of honey by eight household brands in the Indian market is a cause of alarm. A noteworthy feature of the current study was that it highlighted the superior quality of honey from traditional bee-keepers of Sohra, which even have the potential for export. No adulteration was detected relative to the parameters being investigated. Keywords Sohra, Bee, Honey, Physicochemical properties, Quality, Adulteration

The super-food Manuka honey, a comprehensive review of its analysis and authenticity approaches.

Manuka honey (MH) stands out from other honey types as a unique super-food with clinically proven antimicrobial and wound healing activities. Its unique traits and the broad range of applications (i.e. food, cosmetics, nutraceuticals /natural health products) have marked up its price 6 to 25 times than other honey types. Concurrent to the increased market demand, more fraudulence of MH emerged. This urged for the employment of analytical tools for the authenticity and quality assessment of MH and has been the focus of many researchers during the last decades. Our main focus was to review the literature dealing with MH authenticity during the period from 2010 to mid-2021 comprehensively via the Scifinder (https://sinfinder.cas.org) and Web of Science (https://webofknowledge.com) research engines. We used "manuka honey analysis", "manuka honey quality control", and "manuka honey authenticity" as a search terms, applied Boolean operators 'AND/OR' combination, performing in Jan 2017 from the following electronic databases. The state-of-the-art analytical approaches and respective chemical markers of MH are highlighted. The present study capitalizes on the most updated methodologies employed for the quality control and analysis of MH to ensure its authenticity and adulteration detection. The unique constituents of MH allowed for its successful discrimination through various analytical platforms, including mass spectrometry coupled to suitable chromatographic separation (i.e. GC-MS and LC-MS), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), and fluorescence analysis. Moreover, chemometric tools present potential for MH discrimination and has yet to be capitalized more upon for MH quality control analysis.

A palynological and geographical characterization of labeled resin spurge honey: Euphorbia resinifera

Unifloral honeys are highly valued, and their botanical and geographical characterization plays an important role in quality control. This work is an essential contribution to the limited knowledge of the unique resin spurge (Euphorbia resinifera) honey. Palynological and geographical characterization was performed on 29 unifloral resin spurge honey samples distributed along the protected geographic indication (PGI) area in the Middle Atlas Mountains (Morocco). The quantitative pollen analysis shows that resin spurge honeys were characterized by its low to very low pollen content (mean NPG = 1490/g honey) and honeydew indicator elements (mean HDE = 28/g honey). The most characteristic accompanying species are Ceratonia siliqua, Echium plantagineum, Olea sp., Plantago coronopus and Quercus. The proposed markers could further contribute as a useful tool to the quality control of the unique resin spurge honey and thus, guarantee its commercial value, both in the local and international markets. It also allows us to distinguish them from other unifloral honeys from highly related botanical origin, such E. officinarum subsp. echinus and E. regis-jubae honeys. The present characterization will allow further strengthen and protect the reputation of this honey especially since it is being registered in the EU list of protected products. Lastly, considering the lower percentage of E. resinifera pollen found in most of our resin spurge honey samples, we encourage for a revision of the established threshold and propose to lower it to 20% of pollen of E. resinifera to be considered as unifloral honey.

Physicochemical parameters as indicators of the authenticity of monofloral honey from the territory of the Republic of Serbia

The aim of this research was to verify the authenticity of monofloral honeys from the territory of the Republic of Serbia on the basis of physicochemical parameters routinely measured in honey quality control using multivariate analysis. Seventeen samples of monofloral honey (11 samples of acacia honey and 6 samples of sunflower honey) from the territory of the Republic of Serbia were analyzed. Physicochemical analysis of the samples included the examination of basic quality parameters and qualitative and quantitative analyses of phenolic compounds. In the samples tested, a total of 93 phenolic compounds were tentatively identified, and 19 of them were quantified. The obtained physicochemical analysis of the data served as input for the multivariate analysis. The hеаt map, which is useful for visualizing numerical data, was used for this purpose. The obtained results showed that the applied data can serve to clearly separate acacia and sunflower honeys.

Efficient, automated and robust pollen analysis using deep learning

Abstract Pollen analysis is an important tool in many fields, including pollination ecology, paleoclimatology, paleoecology, honey quality control, and even medicine and forensics. However, labour‐intensive manual pollen analysis often constrains the number of samples processed or the number of pollen analysed per sample. Thus, there is a desire to develop reliable, high‐throughput, automated systems. We present an automated method for pollen analysis, based on deep learning convolutional neural networks (CNN). We scanned microscope slides with fuchsine stained, fresh pollen and automatically extracted images of all individual pollen grains. CNN models were trained on reference samples (122,000 pollen grains, from 347 flowers of 83 species of 17 families). The models were used to classify images of different pollen grains in a series of experiments. We also propose an adjustment to reduce overestimation of sample diversity in cases where samples are likely to contain few species. Accuracy of a model for 83 species was 0.98 when all samples of each species were first pooled, and then split into a training and a validation set (splitting experiment). However, accuracy was much lower (0.41) when individual reference samples from different flowers were kept separate, and one such sample was used for validation of models trained on remaining samples of the species (leave‐one‐out experiment). We therefore combined species into 28 pollen types where a new leave‐one‐out experiment revealed an overall accuracy of 0.68, and recall rates &gt;0.90 in most pollen types. When validating against 63,650 manually identified pollen grains from 370 bumblebee samples, we obtained an accuracy of 0.79, but our adjustment procedure increased this to 0.85. Validation through splitting experiments may overestimate robustness of CNN pollen analysis in new contexts (samples). Nevertheless, our method has the potential to allow large quantities of real pollen data to be analysed with reasonable accuracy. Although compiling pollen reference libraries is time‐consuming, this is simplified by our method, and can lead to widely accessible and shareable resources for pollen analysis.

Honey Quality and Safety Control in The Altai Territory

Due to a number of factors, “Altai honey” is a branded product. The article describes factors that affect the quality and safety of honey in the Altai Territory. Honey samples taken in different municipal districts of the Altai Territory were tested. It was concluded that organoleptic indicators, quality and safety indicators, the presence of toxic elements, radionuclides and medicines correspond to the regulatory documents. Counterfeit honey is not supplied to the markets and food fairs of the region; however, there were honey samples with poor physical and chemical characteristics, which indicates the early harvest of honey and the untimely use of means for preventing and treating infectious diseases in bee colonies. The well-being of apiaries is registered in veterinary and sanitary passports, which are issued by the state veterinary service in agreement with the owner. The epizootological monitoring revealed that among infectious diseases, nosematosis, aspergillosis and varroatosis are more common.

Improvements in monofloral honey quality control

The paper presents the results of determining the activity of the most important honey enzyme, invertase, depending on the impact of main technological factors, as well as identifying the minimum permissible enzyme content in raw and processed honey. The studies were carried out in the laboratory of the Federal Beekeeping Research Center. The invertase activity and diastatic number was determined by a photometric method. The honey samples were examined in five replicates. The enzyme activity was determined after 30 and 90 days of honey storage. Deep freezing of honey at a temperature of -18 °C ensured the best preservation of the invertase activity in monofloral honey that came from an assortment of plants. Pasteurization of natural honey reduced the activity of enzymes of honey that comes from different plants by an average of 71.9%. Mechanical treatment of honey reduced the invertase activity by an average of 54.7%. Based on a comparative analysis of invertase and diastatic number, invertase was found to reflect the degree of honey treatment in the best way. The research findings will result in a set of recommendations to enhance the technology for honey processing and quality control, with a subsequent introduction of this indicator in the state standard for natural honey.

Application of multivariate statistical on quality of amazon honey from Apis sp. vs Melipona sp

This paper aimed to study the quality of honey from genus Apis sp. and Melipona sp from Archipelago of Marajo. The honey was collected from two cities (Soure and Salvaterra). All samples were analyzed for their physicochemical composition, phenolic compounds, antioxidant activity, and analyses of standard quality control of honey. All data were subjected to statistical analysis of Tukey (95%), Person correlation and Multivariate (Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Grouping Analysis (HCA)). The study resulted in a significant antioxidant potential from Apis sp. (EC50 = 21.14 ± 142.90 µg.mL-1) and Melipona sp. (EC50 = 13.62 ± 198.11 µg.mL-1) by the DPPH (2,2- diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl) radical sequestration method. All studied honey presented excellent quality and the presence of secondary metabolites belonging to the class of total phenolic (ranged 27.01 ± 1.01 to 56.09 ± 1.32 mg GAE.100 g-1). In relation to physicochemical and microbiological parameters, all the samples were adequate for use and consumption. The multivariate analysis proved to be a very useful tool for the analysis of different samples of honey. The honey quality is very important since Marajo is a region with great potential for honey production that needs standardization of those products, which deserve greater attention and appreciation.

金属氧化物阵列传感器在蜂蜜品质控制中的应用

金属氧化物阵列传感器在蜂蜜品质控制中的应用

NMR based metabolomic approach for evaluation of Vietnamese honey

AbstractHoney represents a natural, agricultural product endowed with valuable nutritional and pharmacological functions. Therefore, the classification and evaluation of honey has always been a challenge for chemical analysis, especially when honey adulteration is increasing. The traditional methods for quality control of honey is currently based on physicochemical methods, which is often relatively high cost and time‐consuming. NMR based metabolomics is a metabolomic fingerprinting approach for NMR data using chemometric tools. This combined approach can be apply in food analysis for origin discrimination, biomarker discovery and authenticity screening. The present study demonstrated the capability of the 1H NMR based metabolomics for evaluation of 27 NMR spectra of 09 selected honey samples from Viet Nam. 1H NMR analysis was conducted immediately on collected honey samples, without extraction. Unsupervised PCA multivariate data analysis, applied on 1H NMR experimental data, used to characterize and classify honey samples according to their origin and quality. Different metabolites specific for each botanical origins of honey samples also determined. The obtained results of the demonstration suggests that this combined approach could be useful to develop generally applicable metabolomic approaches to valuate honey products as well as other agricultural products.

ШЛЯХИ ГАРМОНІЗАЦІЇ УКРАЇНСЬКИХ ТА МІЖНАРОДНИХ ВИМОГ ДО ЯКОСТІ МЕДУ

Мета. Удосконалення системи оцінки якості меду бджолиного та її гармонізація з міжнародними вимогами є надзвичайно актуальним завданням для України і потребує негайного вирішення. У зв’язку з тим постає завдання здійснити аналіз внутрішнього та міжнародного законодавства, виявити можливі чинники, стримуючі експорт меду. Тому метою досліджень було провести порівняльний аналіз вітчизняних та світових вимог щодо якості меду для можливості подальшого удосконалення системи оцінювання якості меду натурального та гармонізації національних нормативних документів з міжнародними. Методика. При дослідженнях використовували таки методики як: збір інформації, її аналітичне опрацювання та теоретичне узагальнення. Для збору інформації використовували порівняльний аналіз таких нормативних документів як: ДСТУ 4497:2005 “Мед натуральний. Технічні умови” та Council Directive 2001/110/EC і CODEX STAN 12-1981 Standard for Honey. Результати. Встановлено, що національний стандарт має низку відмінностей порівняно з вимогами міжнародних нормативних документів, що потребує негайного узгодження. Виявлена невідповідність стосовно класифікації меду: національний стандарт передбачає поділення меду по сортах і вимоги до першого сорту значно нижче європейських норм; міжнародні стандарти передбачають класифікацію меду за призначенням. Також в національних і міжнародних вимогах не узгоджені: перелік показників якості меду, вимоги до їх кількісного значення і одиниці виміру показників якості меду, що дуже ускладнює порівняння нормативів. Оскільки вдосконалення системи оцінки якості меду бджолиного нерозривно пов’язане з питанням його класифікації, постає необхідність вдосконалення передбаченої в національному стандарті класифікації меду, приведення її у відповідність з міжнародною класифікацією, в тому числі ввести класифікацію меду за призначенням і вимагати від виробників позначати цю інформацію на маркуванні. Наукова новизна. Проведено комплексний порівняльний аналіз національних нормативів стосовно якості меду з міжнародними вимогами, сформульовано проблеми експорту меду та обґрунтовано необхідність вдосконалення вітчизняної законодавчої бази. Практична значимість. Розроблено практичні рекомендації, реалізація яких дозволить гармонізувати технічну документацію та стандарти і сприятиме створенню відповідної світовим вимогам системи контролю за якістю меду.&#x0D;

Identification of acacia honey treated with macroporous adsorption resins using HPLC-ECD and chemometrics

The adulteration of honey is generally a safety and quality concern for consumers and the industry as a whole. Resin technologies allow harmful substances to enter honey, creating substandard honey, which can enter the market. Thus, it is necessary to identify such illegal products quickly and easily. In this study, HPLC-ECD combined with chemometrics was used to identify raw acacia honey that had been treated with macroporous adsorption resins. The chromatography fingerprints of 46 honey samples were established, and principal component analysis (PCA) and the OPLS-DA identified that differences in some of the chromatographic peaks could be used to distinguish raw from resins-treated raw honeys. 100% correct classification was achieved with test samples, based on the chromatographic peaks identified. These results show that HPLC-ECD, combined with chemometric methods, can identify correctly resins-treated honey and can be applied for the quality control of honey.

Evaluation of honey in terms of quality and authenticity based on the general physicochemical pattern, major sugar composition and δ13C signature

Ensuring the authenticity of honey remains a top issue for scientists, since no reliable method has been developed so far to simultaneously detect all types of honey adulteration. Consequently, the development of simple, fast, accurate and accessible analytical tools that may provide complementary data for assessing the honey authenticity, is encouraged.In this work a complete investigation in terms of general physicochemical properties (water content, °Brix, electrical conductivity, free acidity, pH and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) content), major sugar composition (fructose, glucose, sucrose and maltose) and δ13C signature of honeys from beekeepers and commercial honeys of different botanical origin (acacia, polyfloral, honeydew, sunflower, rape and linden) and various industrial syrup adulterants was performed. The aim was to generate reliable information in the process of honey evaluation linked with compliance or not with the quality standards, detecting additions of C4 plants sugar syrups (e.g. cane and corn) and confirming the botanical origin.Multivariate statistical methods, such as hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) and principal component analysis (PCA) were applied as exploratory methods in order to examine the possible grouping of samples according to their quality. Correlations between the analyzed parameters were also performed.Stable carbon isotope ratio analysis (SCIRA) based on achieving the differences between the δ13C values in honey and its extracted protein fraction, allows to estimate the degree of adulteration of honeys with sugar syrups produced from C4 plant sources (corn and cane), while the general physicochemical parameters, major sugar composition and HMF content represents important tracers for honey quality control appreciation. Present results showed that parameters like δ13C values of protein extracted from honey, glucose content, ratio between fructose and glucose, and electrical conductivity were significantly different, depending on the botanical origin of honeys.

A screening method based on Visible-NIR spectroscopy for the identification and quantification of different adulterants in high-quality honey

According to European Union regulations, honey is a pure product and adding to or removing from it any kind of substance is illegal. Nevertheless, its adulteration by adding inexpensive and artificial adulterants is a common practice. This paper deals with the use of visible and near-infrared spectroscopy (Vis-NIRS) combined with chemometric tools as a screening technique for the identification and quantification of different types of adulterants (inverted sugar, rice syrup, brown cane sugar and fructose syrup) added to high-quality honey (Granada Protected Designation of Origin, Spain) at different levels (5%–50%). A complete discrimination between non-adulterated and adulterated samples was achieved. A general regression model to quantify the adulteration levels was developed as well as specific models for each adulterant. The coefficients of determination were higher than 0.96 for all the models. These results demonstrate the capacity of Vis-NIRS combined with chemometric tools for honey quality control.

Development of a high performance thin layer chromatography method for the rapid qualification and quantification of phenolic compounds and abscisic acid in honeys

Honey is a natural product with a complex chemical composition consisting of sugars and other bioactive compounds. It is important in many traditional systems of medicine, exhibiting interesting bioactivities, in particular antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Authentication of botanical origin of honeys is particularly important in this context. Therefore, methods for quality control of honey and detection of its adulteration are very important.A HPTLC method for the quantitative determination of phenolic compounds in honey was developed for the first time. Seven phenolic compounds were detected and determined quantitatively in lime and acacia honey samples. The obtained results show that the HPTLC profiles of phenolic compounds and abscisic acid can be useful for determining the floral origin of honeys. Chromatographic tests were supplemented by statistical analysis (PCA and HCA) led to the successful separation of acacia and lime honey samples.

Exploratory Monitoring of the Quality and Authenticity of Commercial Honey in Ecuador.

Honey is one of the oldest sweetening foods and has economic importance, making this product attractive to adulteration with cheap sugars. This can cause a critical problem in the honey industry and a possible health risk. The present work has the aim of evaluating the authenticity of honey commercialized in two different provinces of Ecuador (Pichincha and Loja) by performing physicochemical and spectroscopic analyses. For this study 25 samples were collected from different places and markets and characterized by water, sucrose, reducing sugars and electric conductivity measurement. Also, their Raman and Infrared (IR) spectra were recorded and analysed using a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) in order to verify the quality of the honeys. In addition, a screening of several pesticides was performed in order to verify possible chemical threats to human health and honey bees. It was found that 8 samples have a deviation from the Standard established parameters. Two of them have a high difference in the content of sucrose and reducing sugars, which are located deviated from all the other samples in the PCA of the applied vibrational spectroscopy (IR/Raman), shaping two clear clusters. The results show that Raman and IR spectroscopy is appropriate techniques for the quality control of honey and correlates well with the physicochemical analyses.

Authenticity identification of manuka honey using liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry based metabolomic technique

A liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry (LC-HRMS) based metabolomic approach for the discrimination of manuka honey from the domestic honey was developed. The results of multivariate data analysis showed significant discrimination of manuka honey from domestic honey. Furthermore, a partial least squares discrimination model was established for honey discrimination, enabling the correct identification of unknown testing samples. A total of 34 highly expressed metabolic markers were obtained from the developed discrimination model, including 3-phenyllactic acid and 4-hydroxybenzoic acid which had both been previously identified as manuka honey markers. The area under the curve of the constructed marker combination reached 0.99. The developed metabolomic approach provides a new method for the quality control of manuka honey.

Melissopalynological determination of the Pollen density, Botanical origin and Ogiek Honey types in Eastern Mau Forest, Kenya

The current international market demands for the set up of honey quality control protocols according to the botanical origin based on pollen content. The objective of the present study was to determine the pollen density, honey types, and botanical origin of honey from the Eastern Mau Ogiek beekeepers as a reference to commercial strategies for sellers and buyers. 27 honey samples, three from each of the strata (Mariashoni, Kapkembu, and Nessuit) were collected at the end of April, 2016; August 2016; December, 2016 from the hives of Beekeeping Ogieks in Eastern Mau forest region. 10g of the honey samples were processed through approved melissopalynological procedures. Absolute pollen counts ranged from 47,898-160,200/10g. 59.3% and 40.7% of honey samples fell into classes II and III respectively with no representations of Classes I, IV and V. 29.63% of the honey samples were unifloral, while the rest constituted heterofloral honey. Unifloral honey samples were observed from the three mesoregions of Eastern Mau forest. 50% of the unifloral honey were collected in April (2016). Botanical origin from predominant pollen types were Acacia type, Eucalyptus type, Croton spp. type, Albizia coriaria type, Cordia abyssinica type, and Vernonia auriculifera type. The extent of predominance ranged from (47.1%-66.40%), there was bifloral honey observed in MA-S1-DE sample (Vernonia auriculifera type and Croton spp. type, 46.0% and 47.50% respectively). Secondary pollen ranged from (16.4%-43.4%). All honey samples were floral honey.