title: Buckwheat honeys: screening of composition and properties.
abstract: The quality of 10 buckwheat honeys, collected from Italian and est European beekeepers declaring to produce monofloral honey, were evaluated by means of their pollen, physicochemical, phenolic and volatile composition data. The results of the traditional analyses and in particular electrical conductivity, optical rotation, pH and sugar composition revealed some poorly pure samples that could not fit in the buckwheat tipology. Honey volatiles, analysed by solid phase microextraction (SPME) and gas chromatography-mass-spectrometry (GC/MS), showed more than 100 volatile compounds, most of them present in all honey samples but with quantitative variation. Besides many furfural derivates, 3-methylbutanoic acid was the main volatile compound found in most of honeys. Also the presence of 2- and 3-methylbutanal and pheynalcetaldehyde confirmed the typical buckwheat aroma of some studied samples, corroborating physicochemical data. The HPLC phenolic profile was similar across the samples and p-hydroxybenzoic and p-coumaric acids proved to be the main components.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agro Food Science, University of Bologna, Piazza Goidanich 60, 47521 Cesena (FC), Italy. federica.pasini5@unibo.it
authors.forename: Federica
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pasini
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gardini
authors.forename: Gian Luigi
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Marcazzan
authors.forename: Maria Fiorenza
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Caboni
mesh_terms: D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D019612:Fagopyrum / Q000737:chemistry*; D008401:Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry; D006722:Honey / Q000032:analysis*; D010636:Phenols / Q000032:analysis*; D011058:Pollen / Q000737:chemistry; D052617:Solid Phase Microextraction; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000302:isolation & purification
chemical_list: D010636:Phenols; D055549:Volatile Organic Compounds
keywords: Buckwheat honey; GC–MS; HPLC–DAD–MS; Phenolic compounds; Physicochemical parameters; Solid-phase microextraction (SPME); Volatile compounds