Determination of oligosaccharides in Brazilian honeys of different botanical origin

The levels of 10 oligosaccharides in 70 genuine Brazilian honeys of differe nt floral types are reported. The contents of sucrose and isomaltose were b road, ranging from mean values of 0.07-0.77 and 0.18-0.71%, respectively. T he mean values for maltose were in the range 1.58 to 3.77%. The level of tu ranose (0.78-2.03%) was similar to that of nigerose (1.11-2.81%). Low amoun ts of melibiose (0.05-0.15%) and panose (0.03-0.08%) were found in Brazilia n honeys. Maltotriose, melezitose and raffinose, were present with mean val ues of 0.24-1.03, 0.21-0.37 and 0.10-0.25%, respectively. Between Brazilian states, honeys from Sao Paulo had mean values for melibiose significantly (P < 0.05) lower than those from the Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro. The m ean values for maltose and nigerose found in the Mate Grosso do Sul and Goi as states were significantly higher than from the Mate Grosso state. Honey samples from the Parana state showed a mean value for maltotriose significa ntly higher than that from the Rio Grande do Sul state. The contents of mal tose, nigerose, turanose and maltotriose proved to be useful for the differ entiation of honey samples from different geographical regions and also may be valuable for testing the authenticity of Brazilian honeys. (C) 2000 Els evier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.