Quality Control of Honey Using New Generation Infrared Spectrometers

Abstract

The objective of this study was to develop a rapid infrared technique to determine 10 key quality parameters (sucrose, glucose, fructose, reducing sugar, 5-HMF, °Brix, moisture content, water activity, pH and free acidity) in honey by using new generation portable and handheld devices. The composition of honey samples (n=59) collected from different parts of Turkey was analyzed by using established reference methods, giving wide range of concentrations for each parameter. The levels of sucrose and 5-HMF in some samples were above the established regulatory limits (Codex Alimentarius and European Union standards), indicating possible adulteration or process and storage abuse. Spectra were collected by using portable Fourier-Transformed infrared (FTIR) and handheld NIR (Near Infrared) spectrometers. Partial least squares regression (PLSR) approach was used to correlate the spectral features with compositional reference values, giving strong linear correlation coefficients and standard errors of prediction. Although both systems performed similarly, portable FTIR system was superior in predictions of sucrose, 5-HMF and free acidity while portable NIR system performed noticeably better for °Brix and moisture content. The data indicates that all of the 10 parameters can be measured within the minutes using both systems, providing reliable screening capabilities, flexibility and the potential for in-field applications.

Water activity of fresh bee pollen and mixtures of bee pollen-honey of different botanical origin

“…Honey samples showed aw values lower than 0.7 (0.7 is the limit for pathogen bacterial growth) (Jay, 2007). This data is in agreement with those reported from several Authors that reported aw mean values for honey ranging from 0.47 to 0.64 (Ayvaz, 2017;Manzanares, García, Gald on, Rodríguez-Rodríguez, & Romero, 2017;Olaitan, Adeleke, & Ola, 2007). The values of aw resulted also lower than 0.61, critical value for osmopholic yeast growth, that ensure relatively long shelf life of the honey samples (Ayvaz, 2017;Gleiter, Horn, & Isengard, 2006;Zamora & Chirife, 2006).…”

Comparison of Physicochemical Properties of Bee Pollen with Other Bee Products

“…The values in literature are higher comparing to our study and the difference may be dependent on botanical and geographical origin of the samples. Ayvaz [33] found the refractive index in the range from 1.49 to 1.51 in Turkish honey. Italian scientists showed that royal jelly samples had refraction index scattered in the range 1.38-1.40 [34].…”

Ispitivanje kakvoće meda na hrvatskom tržištu u razdoblju 2019.-2021. godine

“…Upravo zato, imperativ je odrediti pravilan kriterij kontrole kvalitete da bi potrošači konzumirali kvalitetniji i zdraviji proizvod (Ayvaz, 2017. )…”