Authentication of the botanical and geographical origin of honey by mid-infrared spectroscopy.

The potential of Fourier transform mid-infrared spectroscopy (FT-MIR) using an attenuated total reflectance (ATR) cell was evaluated for the authentication of 11 unifloral (acacia, alpine rose, chestnut, dandelion, heather, lime, rape, fir honeydew, metcalfa honeydew, oak honeydew) and polyfloral honey types (n = 411 samples) previously classified with traditional methods such as chemical, pollen, and sensory analysis. Chemometric evaluation of the spectra was carried out by applying principal component analysis and linear discriminant analysis, the error rates of the discriminant models being calculated by using Bayes' theorem. The error rates ranged from <0.1% (polyfloral and heather honeys as well as honeydew honeys from metcalfa, oak, and fir) to 8.3% (alpine rose honey) in both jackknife classification and validation, depending on the honey type considered. This study indicates that ATR-MIR spectroscopy is a valuable tool for the authentication of the botanical origin and quality control and may also be useful for the determination of the geographical origin of honey.

[1]  M. Grenier-loustalot,et al.  Characterization of honey amino acid profiles using high-pressure liquid chromatography to control authenticity , 2004, Analytical and bioanalytical chemistry.

[2]  S. Benedetti,et al.  Electronic nose and neural network use for the classification of honey , 2004 .

[3]  R. Peña,et al.  Authentication of Galician (N.W. Spain) honeys by multivariate techniques based on metal content data , 2000 .

[4]  N. Sbirrazzuoli,et al.  Application of DSC as a tool for honey floral species characterization and adulteration detection , 2003 .

[5]  A. Davies.  Amino Acid Analysis of Honeys from Eleven Countries , 1975 .

[6]  J. Calva,et al.  Classifying honeys from the Soria Province of Spain via multivariate analysis , 2005 .

[7]  R. García-Villanova,et al.  Geographical discrimination of honeys through the employment of sugar patterns and common chemical quality parameters , 2000 .

[8]  Steven D. Brown,et al.  Transfer of multivariate calibration models: a review , 2002 .

[9]  K. Bienefeld,et al.  Infrared spectroscopy in routine quality analysis of honey , 2002 .

[10]  J. Devillers,et al.  Classification of monofloral honeys based on their quality control data , 2004 .

[11]  A. Sabatini,et al.  Characterization of unifloral honeys , 1995 .

[12]  Royston Goodacre,et al.  Progress toward the Rapid Nondestructive Assessment of the Floral Origin of European Honey Using Dispersive Raman Spectroscopy , 2002 .

[13]  D. Cabrol-Bass,et al.  Honey characterization and adulteration detection by pattern recognition applied on HPAEC-PAD profiles. 1. Honey floral species characterization. , 2003, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[14]  M. Feller-Demalsy,et al.  Teneur en minraux et origine gographique des miels du Canada , 1989 .

[15]  J. Irudayaraj,et al.  Floral classification of honey using mid-infrared spectroscopy and surface acoustic wave based z-Nose Sensor. , 2005, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[16]  T. Juan,et al.  Application of a statistical approach to the classification of honey by geographic origin , 1995 .

[17]  T. Fearn.  Standardisation and Calibration Transfer for near Infrared Instruments: A Review , 2001 .

[18]  R. Mateo,et al.  Classification of Spanish Unifloral Honeys by Discriminant Analysis of Electrical Conductivity, Color, Water Content, Sugars, and pH. , 1998, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[19]  N. Moar,et al.  Pollen analysis of New Zealand honey , 1985 .

[20]  Pablo M Cometto,et al.  Comparison of free amino acids profile in honey from three Argentinian regions. , 2003, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[21]  Carlos Herrero,et al.  Chemometric classification of honeys according to their type. II. Metal content data , 1999 .

[22]  L. P. Oddo,et al.  Physico-chemical methods for the characterisation of unifloral honeys: a review , 2004 .

[23]  Tom Fearn,et al.  A Preliminary Study on the Characterisation of Honey by near Infrared Spectroscopy , 2002 .

[24]  R. García-Villanova,et al.  Geographical discrimination of honeys by using mineral composition and common chemical quality parameters , 2000 .

[25]  J. Gilbert,et al.  Determination of the Geographical Origin of Honeys by Multivariate Analysis of Gas Chromatographic Data on Their Free Amino Acid Content , 1981 .

[26]  M. Gerboles,et al.  Contribution of dynamic headspace GC–MS analysis of aroma compounds to authenticity testing of honey , 2001 .

[27]  P. Molan.  THE LIMITATIONS OF THE METHODS OF IDENTIFYING THE FLORAL SOURCE OF HONEYS , 1998 .

[28]  L. P. Oddo,et al.  Determination of honey botanical origin: problems and issues , 2004 .

[29]  S. Bogdanov,et al.  Honey Authenticity: a Review , 2002 .

[30]  R. Day,et al.  Directory of important world honey sources. , 1983 .

[31]  J. Bosset,et al.  Classification of unifloral honeys with an MS-based electronic nose using different sampling modes: SHS, SPME and INDEX , 2004 .

[32]  J. L. Rodríguez-Otero,et al.  Major components of honey analysis by near-infrared transflectance spectroscopy. , 2000, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[33]  E. Katherine Kemsley,et al.  Transfer of spectral data between Fourier- transform infrared spectrometers for use in discriminant analysis of fruit purées , 1997 .

[34]  F. Heredia,et al.  Characterisation of northwest Moroccan honeys by gas chromatographic–mass spectrometric analysis of their sugar components , 2002 .

[35]  S. Bogdanov,et al.  Harmonised methods of the European Honey Commission , 1997 .

[36]  H B Ding,et al.  Determination of chemical composition of commercial honey by near-infrared spectroscopy. , 1999, Journal of agricultural and food chemistry.

[37]  Joana Godinho,et al.  Main European unifloral honeys: descriptive sheets , 2004 .

[38]  J. Bosset,et al.  Quantitative analysis of physical and chemical measurands in honey by mid-infrared spectrometry , 2006 .

[39]  L. P. Oddo,et al.  Bibliographical review of the main European unifloral honeys , 2004 .

[40]  Royston Goodacre,et al.  Contribution of pyrolysis-mass spectrometry (Py-MS) to authenticity testing of honey , 2001 .