A REVIEW OF THE ANALYTICAL METHODS TO DETERMINE THE GEOGRAPHICAL AND BOTANICAL ORIGIN OF HONEY

This review is concerned with analytical methods to prove the authenti city of honey. A special emphasis is put on suitable methods for the d etection of the geographical and botanical origin of honey. Whereas th e determination of some single parameters, such as 5-hydroxymethylfurf ural (HMF), moisture, enzyme activity, nitrogen, mono- and disaccharid es, and residues from medicinal treatment or pesticides in honey does not lead to any information about the botanical and geographical origi n, there are some suitable methods based on the analysis of specific c omponents or on multi-component analysis. Mostly, such methods give in dications of the botanical origin, investigating flavonoids patterns, distribution of pollen, aroma compounds and special marker compounds. There are some other profiles of components which could probably be us ed for the detection of the geographical origin (e.g. oligosaccharides , amino acids, trace elements). In particular, the combination of meth ods could be a promising approach to prove authenticity, especially wh en modern statistical data evaluation techniques will be applied. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.