Origin Of Honey Research Articles

Thorough Investigation of the Phenolic Profile of Reputable Greek Honey Varieties: Varietal Discrimination and Floral Markers Identification Using Liquid Chromatography-High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry.

Honey is a highly consumed commodity due to its potential health benefits upon certain consumption, resulting in a high market price. This fact indicates the need to protect honey from fraudulent acts by delivering comprehensive analytical methodologies. In this study, targeted, suspect and non-targeted metabolomic workflows were applied to identify botanical origin markers of Greek honey. Blossom honey samples (n = 62) and the unifloral fir (n = 10), oak (n = 24), pine (n = 39) and thyme (n = 34) honeys were analyzed using an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography hybrid quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UHPLC-q-TOF-MS) system. Several potential authenticity markers were revealed from the application of different metabolomic workflows. In detail, based on quantitative targeted analysis, three blossom honey markers were found, namely, galangin, pinocembrin and chrysin, while gallic acid concentration was found to be significantly higher in oak honey. Using suspect screening workflow, 12 additional bioactive compounds were identified and semi-quantified, achieving comprehensive metabolomic honey characterization. Lastly, by combining non-targeted screening with advanced chemometrics, it was possible to discriminate thyme from blossom honey and develop binary discriminatory models with high predictive power. In conclusion, a holistic approach to assessing the botanical origin of Greek honey is presented, highlighting the complementarity of the three applied metabolomic approaches.

Italian Consumer Preferences for Eucalyptus Honey: An Exploratory Study

The growing concern for environmental issues has underlined the need to promote sustainable consumption and production. Taking into consideration the three pillars of sustainability, honey should be seen as an important food from a sustainability perspective. Among honey varieties, the eucalyptus one is becoming increasingly popular with people for its aroma and the plant’s therapeutic properties. However, the beekeeping sector in Italy does not yet have sufficient knowledge and understanding of consumer needs with a view to increasing earnings. This paper aimed to analyze the drivers that make people pick eucalyptus honey and tries to investigate which extrinsic and intrinsic quality attributes affect consumer behavior. Data came from an online survey of 403 Italian honey consumers. An ordered Probit model was applied. The results show that consumers consider the taste, viscosity, therapeutic properties, brand reputation, variety, geographical indication, Italian origin, and organic certification of honey as the most important factors that drive the consumption of eucalyptus honey. The findings of the study should help the beekeepers and provide them with the right tools of communication, such as quality or sustainability labeling, thereby increasing their competitiveness.

Contribution of Organic Bee Pollen to the Determination of Botanical Origin of Honey and its Impact on its Biological Properties

Background:Honey is a sweet and flavorful natural product that comes from a lot of nectar of medicinal plants.Objective:This study aimed to determine the botanical origin, physicochemical parameters, antioxidant contents, and antibacterial activities of Algerian honey.Method:The physicochemical parameters of the honey analyzed were measured using the methods established by the European Honey Commission. The antioxidant contents were determined using colorimetric assays, and the antioxidant activities were estimated using reducing power, DPPH, ABTS, and FRAP assays. Antibacterial activities were measured using sensitivity testing and minimal inhibitory concentration.Results:The majority of the samples analyzed were monofloral honey (Fabaceae), and other medicinal plant pollens were identified as minor and very minor pollen (Asteraceae, Tiliaceae, Myrtaceae, and Apiaceae). The physicochemical parameters of the honey were in accordance with the legislation, and the analyses of proline and HMF confirmed their authenticity. The content of total phenolic compounds and total flavonoids ranged from 26 to 159 mg GAE/100 g and 10 to 43 mg EC/100 g, respectively. The analyzed samples of honey showed variable antioxidant activities that differed from one honey to another, and antibacterial activity tests showed that S. aureus and K. pneumoniae were the most sensitive strains with inhibition zones of 24 to 28 mm and 8 to 35 mm in diameter, respectively. Very high correlations were observed between color, antioxidants, and antioxidant activities.Conclusion:This study confirmed the powerful properties of honey to trap free radicals and inhibit bacterial growth, thus it could be used as a therapeutic agent.

Physicochemical and bioactive characterization of beekeeper and market honeys

Honey is a popular sweetener that makes significant contributions to human nutrition. The aim of this study was to analyze and comparespecific properties relating to honey quality and biological value such as total phenolic content, color, color intensity, proline and otherquality parameters like moisture content, electrical conductivity, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, diastase activity in various honeys directly frombeekeepers and from markets. In total fiftysix honey samples directly from Czech and Slovak beekeepers (n=25) and from markets inthe Czech Republic (n=31) were collected during 2018. The determined parameters varied depending on the botanical and geographicalorigin of honeys. The identified most significant differences (p < 0.01) between the analyzed beekeepers and market honeys in color,color intensity, total phenolic content, moisture content and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural point to the different properties and impact of honeyprocessing on honey composition. In several parameters, like color, color intensity, total phenolic content, proline content and electricalconductivity a very good correlations with botanical origin of honey were observed and beside the melissopalynological analysis theseparameters participated on characterization and authentication of unifloral honeys. Normally, there is a positive correlation between colorand electrical conductivity, however we have also confirmed that the color of honey also depends on the proline content. The results ofthis study confirmed that the origin (beekeeper/market) and botanical source of honeys (unifloral/nectar/honeydew) had effect on theirquality and biological value.

Physicochemical and antioxidant properties of Coffea arabica honey from Western Oromia, Ethiopia

Coffea arabica is one of the most widely consumed and marketed commodities in the world. The study was designed to characterize C.arabica honey for botanical composition, physicochemical parameters, and antioxidant properties of honey. Twelve honey samples of C. arabica honey were collected during the flowering period of coffee flowers from the Zander hive. The physicochemical properties of honey and the Botanical origin of honey were determined based on Harmonized methods of the International Honey Commission. The antioxidant power of the coffee monofloral honey samples was determined by dissolving 1.5 gm of honey with 25 ml distilled water and mixing it with 25ml methanol and placed at 25◦C for sixty minutes of maceration using a temperature shaker. The pollen count percentage from honey indicated that all honey samples collected from Gera, Gomma, Yayu, and Manna districts were identified as coffee monofloral honey representing 84%, 93%, 75%, and 73 % of pollen count respectively. The mean moisture, ash, HMF, EC, FA, pH, fructose, glucose and sucrose content of Coffea arabica honey were 22.48%, 0.21%, 11.88, 0.49 mS/cm, 13.44 meq/Kg, 3.32, 32.77%, 32.9%, and 3.57% respectively. The total phenol and flavonoid content range from 42.1-82.1 and 21.7-59.7 mg/100 g of GAE/g respectively while the radical scavenging activity ranges from 60.2- 66.3%. The pollen analysis of honey from the area is coffee monofloral honey since its pollen count exceeds more than 45% and the honey quality also meets the Ethiopian and International standards. The antioxidant power of Coffee honey has a considerable amount of polyphenolics which have relevant antiradical activity.

Phytochemical Diversity of Honey: Supplementary Factor to Determining the Botanical Origin and Authenticity of Honey

Phytochemical Diversity of Honey: Supplementary Factor to Determining the Botanical Origin and Authenticity of Honey

Identification of Seasonal Honey Based on Quantitative Detection of Typical Pollen DNA

Monofloral honey is produced from the nectar of a single predominant botanical species in a particular season and has certain unique properties. Valuable monofloral honey produced in a particular season with unique properties is often targeted for adulteration. Herein, a method for the identification of monofloral honey and determination of its production season was developed. Major nectar plants, including Prunus sp., Robinia pseudoacacia, Castanea sp., and Kalopanax sp., were selected to evaluate the honey produced between April and July in South Korea. Results showed that the highest amount of DNA from each plant was detected in the corresponding flowering season. The pollens tended to accumulate in the honeycomb after the flowering season. The accumulations result in an increase in the diversity of pollen detected in honey. Additionally, DNA quantity of each plant decreased in the samples as the number of plant DNA types increased from May to July. Moreover, the authenticity of the commercial monofloral honey samples showed only cherry blossom honey was found authentic, which exhibited the expected high amount of Prunus sp. DNA. This molecular tool is expected to be useful in verifying the origin of monofloral honey and its production season.

Analysis of Antioxidant Properties and Volatile Compounds of Honey from Different Botanical and Geographical Origins

Honey has been consumed since ancient time due to its nutritional and therapeutic values. Studies showed that honey possesses antioxidant properties which can inhibit oxidation and cell damage in the body. However, the chemical contents and antioxidant properties of honeys are varied, depending on botanical and geographical origins of honey. In this study, we analysed the total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content (TFC), antioxidant properties (DPPH, ABTS, FRAP and TAOC) and volatile profiles of several commercial honeys originated from Malaysia, Turkey, and Yemen. The results showed that sample H4 (Pine honey) from Turkey was the highest in TPC (0.84 µg GAE/mg honey), ABTS (63.15% inhibition) and FRAP (0.45 µg FeSO4 equivalent/mg honey) values, while H2 (Acacia honey) from Malaysia showed the highest values in TFC (0.11 µg quercetin equivalent/mg honey) and DPPH (45.13 mg/mL IC50). Meanwhile, H5 (Marai honey) from Yemen recorded the highest TAOC value (24.14 µg ascorbic acid equivalent/mg honey). Twenty-four volatile compounds were identified using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), among others are 4H-pyran-4-one, 2,3-dihydro-3,5-dihydroxy-6-methyl, linoleic acid ethyl ester, 2,5-dimethyl-4-hydroxy-3(2H)-furanone, and 2,4-dihydroxy-2,5-dimethyl-3(2H)-furan-3-one which contribute to chemical characteristics of certain honeys. In regards to the TPC, TFC, and antioxidant assays, the honey samples were ranked based on the chemical properties level as follows: H4 (Pine honey) > H2 (Acacia honey) > H7 (Kelulut 2) > H3 (Kelulut 1) > H6 (Sumar honey) > H1 (Tualang honey) > H5 (Marai honey). This finding increases the knowledge of the chemical compositions, volatile compounds, and antioxidant activities of several commercial honeys derived from different botanical and geographical origins.

Nine-year statistics of Czech honey carbohydrate profiles in the Czech Republic

Honey is composed mainly of carbohydrates which are represented by mono-, di-, tri-, tetra-, pentasaccharides, and oligosaccharides. The content and proportions of individual carbohydrates reveal information about the origin and technological properties of honey. A total of 5 987 samples of natural honeys originating from the Czech Republic and harvested during a period of nine consecutive years were analysed to research their carbohydrate content, sum of fructose and glucose (Fru + Glc), fructose and glucose ratio (Fru/Glc), and electrical conductivity (Ec). Monosaccharides, melezitose (Mel), and Ec varied according to the source of nectar or honeydew. Sucrose (Suc) content was low 0.87 ± 1.26 g (100 g)<sup>–1</sup> and did not exceed 15 g (100 g)<sup>–1</sup>.

Optimization of sample preparation of Brazilian honeys for TQ-ICP-MS analysis

Mass spectrometry-based techniques have been used to study the chemical profile of honeys to authenticate entomological, botanical and geographical origins. Sample preparation is a crucial step of the analysis to obtaining reliable data and minimizing interference owing to matrix effects. The present work studied the best sample digestion procedure for elemental analysis of Brazilian honeys from Tetragonisca angustula (Jataí) and Apis mellifera sp (Apis) by triple quadrupole inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (TQ-ICP-MS). A central composite design with 2² factorial and 3 center points considering different volumes of HNO3 and H2O2 was investigated. There was no statistically significant influence of the amounts of HNO3 and H2O2 on the recoveries of Ag, Al, As, Ba, Be, Ca, Cd, Ce, Co, Cr, Cs, Cu, K, La, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, Rb, Se, Sr, Th, U, V and Zn mass fractions. Machine learning algorithms (Multilayer Perceptron, Random Forest and Support Vector Machine) allowed discriminating entomological origin of honeys based on chemical profile with a classification accuracy of 99%.

Morpho-Palynological investigations of melliferous plants using microscopic techniques from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Pollen morphology of 16 species belonging to 8 different families; Apocynaceae, Brassicaceae, Capparaceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Poaceae, Solanaceae and Zygophyllaceae were analysed from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with the help of microscopic techniques. Both qualitative and quantitative features of pollen were examined including polar and equatorial diameter, colpus length and width, exine sculpturing, pores number, pollen shape, number of sterile and fertile pollen using Leica microscope (D1000) fitted with camera Meiji Infinity 1 and examined statistically by software IBM SPSS Statistics 20. Pollen observed were small to large with suboblate, oblate-spheroidal, prolate-spheroidal and subprolate shape. Exine ornamentations were reticulate and psilate type in all the studied plants. Colpi and pores of the selected plants observed are tricolporate, tricolpate and monoporate. The present study showed that both spring and autumn seasons are the prominent seasons for honey production and beekeeping industries in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Brassica camp-estris is the most visited species by honeybees in the study area. Melliferous plants gave knowledge about botanical origin of honey and geographical origin of honeybees. The current study identified numerous bee forage plants which may help to raise the concept of cultivation of melliferous herbaceous plants by the local people, to be used for honey production. The identification of these potential sources may help the beekeepers to increase the honey production and increase in agricultural yields through pollinations.

Analysis of Bitter honey using gas chromatography and Tandem Mass Spectrometry.

Honey has been consumed by humans since ancient times. Honey contains volatile compounds like aldehyde, alcohol, ketone, hydrocarbon, terpenes, acids, benzene compounds. These compounds represent the fingerprint of monofloral honey there by providing information about the floral and geographical origin of honey. The volatile compounds present in honey not only contribute the aroma but also associated with the therapeutic activities of honey. In the present study, the GCMS/MS analysis of bitter honey was carried out to identify the presence of volatile compounds. This is the first study to determine the volatile compounds from ethyl acetate extract of bitter honey produced in the Nilgiri biosphere. Among the eighteen compounds detected, the majority of the compounds were reported to be therapeutically active. Hence further studies regarding the isolation of these compounds could be beneficial in the treatment of various diseases.

Comparative efficacy of the Antiplaque Effect of Natural Honey Mouthwash and Chlorhexidine Mouthwash. A randomized controlled trial

Objectives: To compare the efficacy of natural Honey (10%) and chlorhexidine mouthwash (0.12%) on the dental plaque levels. Moreover, to evaluate the efficacy of natural Honey and chlorhexidine mouthwash on the level of dental plaque.
 Methods: This study was a single-centered randomized controlled trial conducted on participants attending the Dental OPD of Dar-ul-Sehat hospital in Karachi. A total of 60 participants were included in the trial from June 2020 to December 2020. The sample size was calculated using openepi after entering the mean and SD of the honey and chlorhexidine groups. The study included sixty male and female participants ranging in age from 18 to 25 years, and those with medical illness, missing teeth, and antimicrobial history were excluded from the study. The subjects were randomly assigned to two groups: Natural Honey or Chlorhexidine gluconate mouthwash. The data was collected at the baseline and 14th day; the plaque was revealed using a disclosing solution. Their scores were recorded at four sites per tooth using the Silness-Loe plaque index criteria. Later, statistical analysis was performed to compare the effects of the two groups. P ? 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
 Results: Our findings revealed that both groups effectively lowered the plaque score. However, it showed a more significant reduction in plaque indices in the honey group on Day 14 when compared to chlorhexidine mouthwash.
 Conclusion: Honey has been identified as a potent antibacterial agent with therapeutic properties. Based on the findings of this study, it is possible to conclude that gargling with the original honey 10% solution is effective in lowering dental plaque score. Honey can be used in relation to conventional treatments to protect dental plaque and gingivitis. More research will be needed to back up these preliminary findings. Moreover, the synergistic effect of Chlorhexidine with natural Honey must be investigated

Polyphenols and Minor Constituents in Honey from North Macedonia and Bulgaria


 
 
 Honey is a highly concentrated sugar solution that is a rich source of many bioactive compounds including numerous minor constituents. Among them, polyphenols such as flavonoids and phenolic acids are the most important classes of pharmacologically active compounds. Together with other minor constituents they are also considered potential chemical markers for the botanical and geographical origin of honey as well as for its authenticity.
 A solid-phase extraction procedure and HPLC/DAD/MSn method has been applied for identification and quantification of minor constituents in honey from the region of Bulgaria, North Macedonia, and Greece. Solid-phase extraction using Amberlite XAD-2 as an adsorbent was used for sample preparation enabling purification and concentration of the analysed compounds, mainly polyphenols. In total, 16 compounds were identified in the 21 extracts, 3 of them hydroxycinammic acids (caffeic, p-coumaric and ferulic acid), 5 flavonoids (naringenin, chrysin, galangin, pinocembrin and pinobanksin methyl ether) as well as gluconic acid, quinic acid, ascorbic acid, phenyllactic acid, kynurenic acid and abscisic acid in its two isomeric forms. Quantification of the identified polyphenols was made by an external calibration. The results showed that the developed method presented here is suitable for obtaining qualitative and quantitative data for polyphenols of honey.
 
 

Detection and evaluation of saccharide adulteration in Italian honey by NMR spectroscopy

The detection of honey adulteration is still an open question, and in these last year's particularly challenging due to the very limited production. This illegal practice is attracting producers worldwide, mostly due to the relevant economic gain available and to the lack of an official analytical method able to detect adulterations, particularly syrups. In the present study the use of both targeted and untargeted NMR spectroscopy have been applied to reveal inulin, corn/malt syrup and invert sugar syrup addition. Untargeted NMR data of pure and artificially adulterated samples in the range of 10–40% were statistical analyzed and OPLS models were used to predict samples spiked with the saccharide adulterants, resulting in very good predictions of the adulteration percentage. Targeted NMR data were concurrently evaluated, allowing to predict the adulteration percentage on the basis of calibration curves. Both these approaches revealed their robust capability in detecting and estimating the percentage of adulteration in the three different botanical origins of Italian honeys, like chestnut, polyfloral and acacia, thus suggesting the potential applicability of this approach to other botanical origins.

MELISSOPALINOLOGICAL STUDY OF SOUTHERN BESSARABIA HONEY

Different natural and climatic zones, directions of agricultural production, ethnic and cultural features of agriculture, and reliefs of the regions of Ukraine are the result of a wide variety of vegetation. Ukraine occupies less than 6% of Europe’s area but owns about 35% of all its biodiversity. This leads to a considerable list of plants that are sources of nectar for the production of honey of different varieties. Ukraine produces classic monofloral varieties of honey, such as white acacia, rapeseed, linden, buckwheat, sunflower, as well as less common monofloral, such as mustard, clover, raspberry, bird’s-foot, phacelia, fireweed, goldenrod, sophora, honeydew. Today, regional polyfloral varieties of honey are also produced, such as Carpathian, steppe, Crimean, and other locally produced honey from reserves (for example, from Gomilshansky forests, Mezynsky reserve, Askanian meadows). A common way to identify the botanical and geographical origin of honey and identify its species is to study the pollen composition. This work was aimed to determine the pollen profile of spring honeys of Southern Bessarabia using the method of melissopalynology. Bessarabia is an ethnographic region with its own culture of agricultural production and natural and climatic conditions. The material of the study was samples of honey obtained in the apiaries of the Center for Ethnographic, Green, Rural Tourism, and Family Recreation Frumushika-Nova (Odessa region) in 2021. The pollen profile of honey was investigated using the author’s improved method of melissopalynological analysis. Identification of pollen grains was performed using the online database of pollen grains PalDat using a model nutrient medium. The pollen profile of spring honeys of Southern Bessarabia is represented by 30 morphotypes of pollen grains of different plant species, contains honeydew of natural origin and natural impurities (plant particles, wax, bee bodies). In the pollen profile of honey, no dominant (45% or more) pollen grains were detected, secondary – 6, insignificant – 21, inclusions – 3 morphotypes. This allows us to assert the polyflorality of the studied honey with the exception of white acacia, the dominant pollen of which may be 20% or more. Pollen grains of endemic species of steppe plants of Ukraine were found in the pollen profile of spring honeys of Southern Bessarabia (tamarix ramosissima, lathyrus pannonicus, rosa tesquicola, bifora radians, ailanthus altissima, ultus pumila, prunus tenella, viola occulta). The obtained results can be further used to identify the geographical origin of honey from this region. At the next stages of the research, it will be promising to determine the pollen profiles of summer honeys of Southern Bessarabia and other ethnographic regions of Ukraine.

Impact of Pre-Processing Methods for the Identification of the Botanical Origin of Honey Based Upon Isotopic and Elemental Profiles

Botanical differentiation of four floral honey types based on isotopic and elemental content coupled with partial least squares—discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) was performed in the present work. In order to enhance the discrimination potential of this approach, an advanced pre-processing step was applied. For data pre-processing, a comparison between unsupervised (principal component analysis - PCA) and supervised (PLS-DA) methods was performed to achieve the highest classification rate of the developed models. Based on the prediction rate of the final models, it was assumed that the most efficient data pre-processing method corresponds to the selection of relevant features by PLS-DA. The statistical models allowed the differentiation of individual classes with percentages between 82% and 100%. Thus, the model accuracies for the recognition of each honey category were 100% (sunflower), 92% (acacia), 90% (colza) and 82% (linden). The applied variable selection, performed through PLS-DA, led to a significant improvement of the models in the cross-validation evaluation (i.e., for the sunflower honey samples, the true positive rate increased from 66% to 83%).

Development of E-Commerce for Selling Honey Bees in the COVID-19 Era

During the Covid-19 pandemic, which has not yet ended, the business of selling honey is a type of business that is able to survive and even increase its market. The trend of selling honey in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic is quite stable and has the potential to be a good source of income because honey can be used as medicine and can increase the body's immunity. Fitorajo Bee Farm is a UMKM engaged in bee cultivation which is located in Pinang City, South Labuhanbatu Regency, North Sumatra Province with original honey bee products packaged in plastic bottle containers. The marketing system carried out by Fitorajo Bee Farm is carried out through word of mouth, Facebook social media, or through the WhatsApp application. Seeing the promising potential of the honey business in the Covid-19 pandemic era, and in order to reach a wider market, Fitorajo Bee Farm should improve and innovate by adopting e-commerce technology. Conventional marketing, which so far only reaches consumers on a limited scale, must be changed with a marketing system that can reach consumers from any corner. The purpose of this research is to build a marketing media for Fitorajo Bee Farm honey bees by implementing web-based e-commerce. The system development method used is the waterfall model, while the programming language used is PHP framework codeigniter with MySQL DBMS. The results showed that the codeigniter framework and MySQL DBMS can be applied to build e-commerce web-based honey bee marketing media.

Analytical Strategies for LC-MS-Based Untargeted and Targeted Metabolomics Approaches Reveal the Entomological Origins of Honey.

A comprehensive liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based metabolomics approach was developed to discriminate honey harvested from Apis mellifera ligustica Spinola (A. mellifera) and Apis cerana cerana Fabricius (A. cerana). Based on an untargeted strategy, ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography electrospray ionization quadrupole orbitrap high-resolution mass spectrometry (UPLC Q-Orbitrap) was combined with chemometrics techniques to screen and identify tentative markers from A. mellifera and A. cerana honey. In targeted metabolomics analysis, a sensitive method of solid-phase extraction followed by ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography coupled with triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) was established for quantifying three markers, and the results showed that 3-amino-2-naphthoic acid and methyl indole-3-acetate could be considered markers of A. cerana honey, as they were present in higher amounts in A. cerana honey than in A. mellifera honey, whereas kynurenic acid was determined to be a marker of A. mellifera honey. This work highlights critical information for the authentication of A. cerana and A. mellifera honey.

Towards Authentication of Entomological Origin of Honey in Bangladesh Through Molecular and Biochemical Approaches

Towards Authentication of Entomological Origin of Honey in Bangladesh Through Molecular and Biochemical Approaches