title: Detection of harmful residues in honey using terahertz time-domain spectroscopy.
abstract: Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) has been applied for the detection and discrimination of harmful chemical residues in honey. Three antibiotics (sulfapyridine, sulfathiazole, and tetracycline) and two acaricides (coumaphos and amitraz) were characterized in the THz frequency regime between 0.5 THz and 6.0 THz. All chemical substances present distinct absorption peaks. THz transmission measurements of honey mixtures with antibiotics have been performed, revealing that antibiotic residues are traceable in highly absorptive food products, such as honey, at concentrations down to 1% weight percentage, thanks to their THz fingerprints. Moreover, multiple antibiotics were identified in their mixture with honey, pointing out the potential of the technique to be used in the near future as a fast, real-time technique for detecting and discriminating multi-residues strictly related to food safety issues.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL), Foundation for Research and Technology, Hellas (FORTH), P.O. Box 1527, GR-71110 Heraklion, Greece.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Massaouti
authors.forename: Christina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Daskalaki
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gorodetsky
authors.forename: Anastasios D
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Koulouklidis
authors.forename: Stelios
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tzortzakis
mesh_terms: D059022:Food Safety; D006722:Honey / Q000032:analysis*; D010573:Pesticide Residues / Q000032:analysis* / Q000737:chemistry; D055068:Terahertz Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D010573:Pesticide Residues