PHYSICO-CHEMICAL, SPECTRAL STUDIES OF HONEY AND ITS

ADULTERATION

Tairabikhanadal, Savita Patil,Vijayalaxmi.Pawar,Lagamavva.Hipparagi,

,Shobha.Waded,Usha

Akkamahadevi women’s university Vijayapura

___________________________________________________________________________

Abstract :- Honey is a complex and challenging product to analyze due to mainly to its

composition consisting on various botanical sources. The discrimination of the origin of

honey is of prime importance in order to reinforce the consumer trust in this typical food

product. But this is not an easy task as usually no single chemical or physical parameter is

sufficient. The aim of our paper is to investigate whether FT-IR spectroscopy as

spectroscopic fingerprint technique combined with some chemometric tools can be used as a

rapid and reliable method for the discrimination of honey according to their source. In

addition to that, different chemometric models are constructed in order to discriminate

between Corsican honeys and honey coming from other regions in France, Italy, Austria,

Germany and Ireland based on their FT-Raman spectra. These regions show a large variation

in their plants. The developed models include the use of exploratory techniques as the Fisher

criterion for wavenumber selection and supervised methods as Partial Least Squares-

Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) or Support Vector Machines (SVM). All these models

showed a correct classification ratio between 85% and 90% of average showing that Raman

spectroscopy combined to chemometric treatments is a promising way for rapid and non-

expensive discrimination of honey according to their origin.

Keywords :-Chemometric,Nectar,Honeycomb,HoneyDew,Polarization,Floralsource,

Rheology,Blooming,Adulteration,Melissopalynology,Beekeeping,DarkaMBERHoney,

Fermentation,Beverages,Desserts,wasps,HymenopteraInsects,Endosperm,Calyx,Swarm,

Flutter,Feeding.

Objectives : “To establish areas of conservation throughout the island for the conservation of

the native Irish honey bee.”To help promote areas of conservation throughout the island to

conserve the native Irish honey bee.“To promote the formation of Bee Improvement

groups.”To liaise with bee-keepers with a view to establishing bee improvement groups.

To advise and encourage bee-keepers to promote our aims and objectives.“To provide

education on Bee improvement and awareness to the public of the values of the native Irish

honey bee.”

1.To establish a website which promotes our aims and objectives with links to organisations

promoting similar aims and objectives.

2.Where possible to provide information, leaflets, press releases etc.“To act in an advisory

capacity to groups and individuals who wish to promote the native Irish honey bee.”To

provide information about ongoing events.

Tairabi.Khanadal,et al. Int.J.Chem.Sci & Res.v7 i4, JA 17 , 07 – 09 ISSN: 2249 - 0329

IJCSR July – August 2017 available online @ www.ijcsr.in

7

INTRODUCTION :

Honey is a sugary food substance

produced and stored by

certain social hymenoptera insects. It is

produced from the sugary secretions of

plants or insects, such as floral nectar or

aphid honeydew,through regurgitation, enz

ymatic activity,and water evaporation. The

variety of honey produced by honey bees

is the most well-known, due to its

worldwide commercial production and

human consumption Honey gets its

sweetnessfromthe monosaccharide fructos

e and glucose, and has about the same

relative sweetness as granulated sugar It

has attractive chemical properties for

baking and a distinctive flavour that leads

some people to prefer it to sugar and other

sweeteners. Most microorganisms do not

grow in honey, so sealed honey does not

spoil, even after thousands of

years. However, honey sometimes

contains dormant endosperm of the

bacterium Clostridium which can be

dangerous to babies, as it may result

in botulismHoney is produced by Bees

from nector collection which serves the

dual purpose to support metabolism of

muscle activity during foraging and for

long term food storage honey .during

foraging, bees access part of the nectar

collected to support metabolic activity of

flight muscles, with the majority of

collected nectar destined for regurgitation,

digestion, and storage as honey The

process continues as hive bees flutter their

wings constantly to circulate air

and evaporate water from the honey to a

content around 18%, raising the sugar

concentration, and

preventing fermentation The bees then cap

the cells with wax to seal them. As

removed from the hive by a beekeeper

honey has a long shelf life and will not

ferment if properly sealed.Some wasps,

such as the Polistes versicolor even

consume honey themselves, switching

from feeding on pollen in the middle of

their lifecycles to feeding on honey, which

can better provide for their energy needs.

Procedure: Adulteration of honey is the

addition of other sugars, syrups, or

compounds into honey to change its flavor

or viscosity, make it cheaper to produce, or

increase the fructose content to stave off

crystallization. According to the Codex

Alimentarius of the United Nations, any

product labeled as honey or pure honey

must be a wholly natural product, although

different nations have their own laws

concerning labeling Adulteration of honey

is sometimes used as a method of

deception when buyers are led to believe

that the honey is pure. The practice was

common dating back to ancient times,

when crystallized honey was often mixed

with flour or other fillers, hiding the

adulteration from buyers until the honey

was liquefied. In modern times, the most

common adulteration-ingredient became

clear, almost-flavorless corn syrup, which,

when mixed with honey, is often very

difficult to distinguish from unadulterated

honey.Isotope ratio mass spectrometry can

be used to detect addition of corn

syrup and cane sugar by the

carbon isotopic signature. Addition of

sugars originating from corn or sugar cane

(C4 plants unlike the plants used by bees,

and also sugar beet, which are

predominantly C3 plants) skews the

isotopic ratio of sugars present in

honey, but does not influence the isotopic

ratio of proteins. In an unadulterated

honey, the carbon isotopic ratios of sugars

and proteins should match. Levels as low

as 7% of addition can be detected.

Conclusion: The study aimed to investigate

and evaluate a physicochemical

characterization of different honey

samples from different origin to confirm

Tairabi.Khanadal,et al. Int.J.Chem.Sci & Res.v7 i4, JA 17 , 07 – 09 ISSN: 2249 - 0329

IJCSR July – August 2017 available online @ www.ijcsr.in

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its economical and nutritional quality.the

results of pollen analysis indicated that all

investigated samples of honey were rich in

pollen types but with low percentages.it

could also be suggested that these types of

honey were produced from different types

of pollen and nector plant sources.All

studied types of honey were within the

standard limit of moisture content

(<20%),which can elevate the honey

ability to resist fermentation and

granulation and promote longer shelf life

during storage In

Fluorescence spectra all honey types

showed significant fluorescence maxima

of intensity between 220nm and

260nm.Finally we conclude that in our

spectroscopic study about FT_IR and

Fluorescence spectrum of honey shows

that dabor honey is pure one as compared

to lion ,pathanjali , local honey the

readings comes in the range of 300 to 550

nm so this is the range of honey sample.

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Tairabi.Khanadal,et al. Int.J.Chem.Sci & Res.v7 i4, JA 17 , 07 – 09 ISSN: 2249 - 0329

IJCSR July – August 2017 available online @ www.ijcsr.in

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