MULTICHANNEL COULOMETRIC DETECTION COUPLED WITH LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHYFOR DETERMINATION OF PHENOLIC ESTERS IN HONEY

A method for the determination of phenolic esters in different varieti es of honey was developed. The substances were separated by RP-HPLC. A coulometric electrode-array system with sixteen electrodes arranged i n series and set at increasing potentials (300-900 mV) was used for el ectrochemical detection of the compounds. Chromatographic peaks for me thyl 4-hydroxybenzoate, methyl vanillate, methyl syringate, trans-p-me thyl coumarate and trans-methyl ferulate were identified. The content of the esters varied between 1.3 and 5044 mug per kg of honey with det ection limits of 0.1-1.0 mug per kg of honey (S/N = 3). The method des cribed is a sensitive assay to differentiate between rape honey and ot her varieties.