The aim of this present study was determination of essential and toxic element concentrations

This study investigated the effect of different treatments (centrifugation and filtration; heating; adulteration with sugar syrups, and storage) and collection variables (year and region of the country) on the physicochemical properties of 44 Hungarian acacia honeys. The characteristics measured were diastase activity, hydroxyl-methyl-furfural (HMF), total phenolic content (TPC), electrical conductivity (EC), colour, pH, proline, moisture, sucrose, fructose and glucose contents, and concentration of eleven elements (As, B, Cd, Cr, Fe, K, Mg, Na, P, S, Zn). Centrifugation and filtration reduced the concentration of all examined parameters, except for moisture. Heating reduced diastase activity, proline and total phenolic concentrations and increased HMF concentration and colour value. Adulteration with sugar syrups had adverse effects on the diastase activity, proline, moisture and sugar concentrations, EC, colour and pH. Two-year storage reduced diastase activity, HMF, proline and TPC concentrations and increased sucrose concentrations. The collecting area influenced Na, Fe and As concentration, but the collecting year had no effect on the examined parameters. It is concluded that method and region of honey collection, duration of storage and processing all have major effects on the quality of acacia honey. Applied sugar syrup, although it affected honey quality, would be difficult to detect in the finished product.

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In the present paper, a risk analysis of beer’s element content has been carried out. Al, As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mo, Mn, Ni, Se, Sr, Pb and Zn were determined by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) in 24 beer samples produced by different breweries. Samples could be originated from Hungary, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany and Austria, and the set consisted of 4 types of beer: pale barley, dark barley, pale wheat and dark wheat samples. It appeared that Mn was the most abundant among the analysed elements, followed by Sr, and Al, and Co, Se and Cr could be found in the lowest concentrations, except for those which were present in a concentration lower than LoD. The statistical analysis showed that barley and wheat beers could be differentiated according to their Mn and Cu content, but to separate all of the groups analysed further investigations and more samples are needed. A risk assessment for Al, Cu and Zn has also been performed for the analysed samples. The results showed that none of these elements could have any adverse effect on our health. The assessment of other toxic elements was not needed, because their concentrations were under LoD, or their PTDI values have been withdrawn by WHO JECFA.