Usefulness of Amino Acid Composition To Discriminate between Honeydew and Floral Honeys. Application to Honeys from a Small Geographic Area

Abstract

With the aim of finding methods that could constitute a solid alternative to melissopalynological and physicochemical analyses to determine the botanical origin (floral or honeydew) of honeys, the free amino acid content of 46 honey samples has been determined. The honeys were collected in a small geographic area of approximately 2000 km(2) in central Spain. Twenty-seven honey samples were classified as floral and 19 as honeydew according to their palynological and physicochemical analyses. The resulting data have been subjected to different multivariant analysis techniques. One hundred percent of honey samples have been correctly classified into either the floral or the honeydew groups, according to their content in glutamic acid and tryptophan. It is concluded that free amino acids are good indicators of the botanical origin of honeys, saving time compared with more tedious analyses.

Physico-chemical methods for the characterisation of unifloral honeys: a review

“…2.6). The content of free amino acids of unifloral honeys was studied by many workers (Berger and Hahn, 1972;Petrov, 1974;Bosi and Battaglini, 1978;Kanematsu et al, 1982;Speer and Montag, 1986;Pirini et al, 1992;Pawlowska and Armstrong, 1994;Bouseta et al, 1996;Conte et al, 1998;Cotte et al, 2004;Iglesias et al, 2004). In most of these studies one or a few samples per honey type were analysed.…”

“…Floral and honeydew honeys (Iglesias et al, 2004) could be discriminated. In a study with 7 selected honey varieties only lavender honey could be differentiated, while there was no difference between the 6 other honey types (Cotte, 2004).…”

Larval growth, silk production and economic traits of Bombyx mori under the influence of honey-enriched mulberry diet

“…It is a rich nutrient and includes a variety of sugars, proteins, enzymes, vitamins and minerals and its chemical composition and characteristics vary depending on its geographical, environmental and botanical origin (Ramirez, 2000;Falco et al, 2003;Anonymous, 2003;Garcia et al, 2005;David Ball, 2007). Further, the honey is an insect product and possess valuable nourishing, healing and prophylactic properties and used as an ingredient of human and veterinary , 2231-5209 (Online) All Rights Reserved © Applied and Natural Science Foundation www.ansfoundation.org medicines (Taormina, 2001;Cooper et al, 2002;Anonymous, 2003;Eileen De Mars, 2003;Iglesias et al, 2004). Most of the enrichment studies employed commercial and expensive nutrients, but, no effort has since been made to examine the impact of an insect product and all-in-one nutrient like honey on the silkworm growth, metabolism and economic traits of sericulture.…”

Mineral profile of Croatian honey and differences due to its geographical origin

“…It is certainly one of the most complex types of food derived from nature (Azeredo et al 2003;Iglesias et al 2004). The composition of honey depends on the plant species, climatic conditions, environmental conditions, and good beekeeping practices.…”