title: Modified sugar adulteration test applied to New Zealand honey.
abstract: The carbon isotope method (AOAC 998.12) compares the bulk honey carbon isotope value with that of the extracted protein; a difference greater than 1‰ suggesting that the protein and the bulk carbohydrate have different origins. New Zealand Manuka honey is a high value product and often fails this test. It has been suggested such failures are due to the pollen in the Manuka honey and an adaptation of the method to remove pollen prior to testing has been proposed. Here we test 64 authentic honey samples collected directly from the hives and find that a large proportion (37%) of Manuka honeys fail the test. Of these 60% still fail the adapted method. These honey samples were collected and processed under stringent conditions and have not been adulterated post-harvest. More work is required to ascertain the cause of these test failures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand. r.frew@iaea.org
authors.forename: Russell
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Frew
authors.forename: Kiri
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: McComb
authors.forename: Linda
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Croudis
authors.forename: Dianne
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Clark
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Van Hale
mesh_terms: D005504:Food Analysis / Q000379:methods* / Q000592:standards; D006722:Honey / Q000032:analysis*; D031649:Leptospermum / Q000737:chemistry; D009520:New Zealand; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000032:analysis; D011044:Poland; D011058:Pollen / Q000737:chemistry; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins
keywords: AOAC 991.47; Carbon isotope; Honey; Manuka; SCIRA