CHARACTERISTIC AROMA PROFILES OF UNIFLORAL HONEYS OBTAINED WITH A DYNAMIC HEADSPACE GC-MS SYSTEM

The volatile compounds of 84 unifloral honeys (from 14 unifloral sourc es in 10 countries) were studied with a dynamic headspace gas chromato graph coupled directly to a mass spectrometer system. The average conc entrations of the 47 compounds identified are tabulated, together with relevant chromatographic data. Some compounds appeared to be characte ristic of the floral source, particularly in lavender (caproaldehyde ( hexanal) and heptanal), fir (acetone), eucalyptus (diketones, sulphur compounds, alkanes) and dandelion and rape (three unidentified compoun ds) honeys. It is concluded that further studies on less volatile comp ounds are needed in order to further characterize aromas of unifloral honeys and to differentiate honeys derived from floral sources such as chestnut, orange, lime and robinia. Some compounds, such as alcohols, branched aldehydes and furan derivatives, reflected the microbiologic al purity and processing and storage conditions of the honeys, rather than their floral origins.