title: Practical procedure for discriminating monofloral honey with a broad pollen profile variability using an electronic tongue.
abstract: Colour and floral origin are key parameters that may influence the honey market. Monofloral light honey are more demanded by consumers, mainly due to their flavour, being more valuable for producers due to their higher price when compared to darker honey. The latter usually have a high anti-oxidant content that increases their healthy potential. This work showed that it is possible to correctly classify monofloral honey with a high variability in floral origin with a potentiometric electronic tongue after making a preliminary selection of honey according their colours: white, amber and dark honey. The results showed that the device had a very satisfactory sensitivity towards floral origin (Castanea sp., Echium sp., Erica sp., Lavandula sp., Prunus sp. and Rubus sp.), allowing a leave-one-out cross validation correct classification of 100%. Therefore, the E-tongue shows potential to be used at analytical laboratory level for honey samples classification according to market and quality parameters, as a practical tool for ensuring monofloral honey authenticity.
authors: CIMO - Mountain Research Centre, Escola Superior Agrária, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus Santa Apolónia, Apartado 1172, 5301-855 Bragança, Portugal.
authors: Mara E B C
authors: ME
authors: Sousa
authors: CIMO - Mountain Research Centre, Escola Superior Agrária, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus Santa Apolónia, Apartado 1172, 5301-855 Bragança, Portugal. Electronic address: ldias@ipb.pt.
authors: Luís G
authors: LG
authors: Dias
authors: Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra, ISEC, DEQB, Rua Pedro Nunes, Quinta da Nora, 3030-199 Coimbra, Portugal; CEB - Centre of Biological Engineering, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057 Braga, Portugal.
authors: Ana C A
authors: AC
authors: Veloso
authors: CIMO - Mountain Research Centre, Escola Superior Agrária, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus Santa Apolónia, Apartado 1172, 5301-855 Bragança, Portugal.
authors: Letícia
authors: L
authors: Estevinho
authors: CIMO - Mountain Research Centre, Escola Superior Agrária, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus Santa Apolónia, Apartado 1172, 5301-855 Bragança, Portugal; LSRE - Laboratory of Separation and Reaction Engineering - Associate Laboratory LSRE/LCM, Escola Superior Agrária, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Campus Santa Apolónia, Apartado 1172, 5301-855 Bragança, Portugal.
authors: António M
authors: AM
authors: Peres
authors: LAQUIPAI - Laboratório de Química Inorgânica Pura e de Aplicação Interdisciplinar, Departamento de Química, Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade do Porto, R. Campo Alegre, 687, 4169-007 Porto, Portugal.
authors: Adélio A S C
authors: AA
authors: Machado
mesh_terms: D015374:Biosensing Techniques / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D003116:Color; D003258:Consumer Behavior / Q000191:economics; D004581:Electronics / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods; D035264:Flowers / Q000737:chemistry; D006722:Honey / Q000032:analysis* / Q000145:classification / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D019684:Magnoliopsida / Q000737:chemistry / Q000145:classification; D011058:Pollen / Q000737:chemistry*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013045:Species Specificity; D013649:Taste / Q000502:physiology*; D014059:Tongue / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Electronic tongue; Honey colour; Linear discriminant analysis; Monofloral honey; Simulated annealing algorithm