Establishing authenticity of honey via comprehensive Romanian honey analysis

• Published in: Food chemistry Vol. 306; p. 125595
• Main Authors: Geana, Elisabeta-Irina, Ciucure, Corina Teodora
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Ltd 15.02.2020
• Subjects: Adulteration; Analytical methods; beekeepers; Botanical and geographical origins; Carbohydrates - analysis; Chemometrics; Chromatography; Food Contamination - analysis; honey; Honey - analysis; Honey authentication; markets; mixing; provenance; Romania; spectroscopy; Spectrum Analysis; Sugar syrups; sugars; syrups; Romania; Botanical and geographical origins; Analytical methods; Honey authentication; Sugar syrups; Adulteration; Chemometrics
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2019.125595

•Chromatographic techniques are essential for the detection of polysaccharide impurities from HFCS.•Metabolomics-based approaches allowed the detection of specific impurities from sugar syrups.•Honey botanical origin traceability can be assured by fingerprinting bioactive compounds.•Elemental composition appears to be the most promising approach for honey geographical origin.•Spectroscopic and screening techniques improved the capability for honey authentication. Assessing the authenticity of honey is a serious problem that has gained much interest internationally because honey has frequently been subject to various fraudulent practices, including mislabelling of botanical and geographical origin and mixing with sugar syrups or honey of lower quality. To protect the health of consumers and avoid competition, which could create an unstable market, consumers, beekeepers and regulatory bodies are interested in having reliable analytical methodologies to detect non-compliant honey. This paper gives an overview of the different approaches used to assess the authenticity of honey, specifically by the application of advanced instrumental techniques, including spectrometric, spectroscopic and chromatographic methods coupled with chemometric interpretation of the data. Recent development in honey analysis and application of the honey authentication process in the Romanian context are highlighted, and future trends in the process of detecting and eliminating fraudulent practices in honey production are discussed.