Application of analytical methods in authentication and adulteration of honey.
Honey is synthesized from flower nectar and it is famous for its tremendous therapeutic potential since ancient times. Many factors influence the basic properties of honey including the nectar-providing plant species, bee species, geographic area, and harvesting conditions. Quality and composition of honey is also affected by many other factors, such as overfeeding of bees with sucrose, harvesting prior to maturity, and adulteration with sugar syrups. Due to the complex nature of honey, it is often challenging to authenticate the purity and quality by using common methods such as physicochemical parameters and more specialized procedures need to be developed. This article reviews the literature (between 2000 and 2016) on the use of analytical techniques, mainly NMR spectroscopy, for authentication of honey, its botanical and geographical origin, and adulteration by sugar syrups. NMR is a powerful technique and can be used as a fingerprinting technique to compare various samples.
H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan.
Amna Jabbar
AJ
Siddiqui
H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan. Electronic address: musharraf1977@yahoo.com.
Syed Ghulam
SG
Musharraf
H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan.
M Iqbal
MI
Choudhary
H.E.J. Research Institute of Chemistry, International Center for Chemical and Biological Sciences, University of Karachi, Karachi 75270, Pakistan.
Atta-Ur-
AU
Rahman
D000818:Animals; D001516:Bees; D002241:Carbohydrates / Q000032:analysis; D005506:Food Contamination / Q000032:analysis*; D006722:Honey / Q000032:analysis*; D009682:Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy / Q000379:methods*; D057048:Plant Nectar / Q000032:analysis; D013395:Sucrose / Q000032:analysis
D002241:Carbohydrates; D057048:Plant Nectar; D013395:Sucrose
Adulteration; Botanical origin; Geographical origin; Honey authenticity; Nuclear magnetic resonance