The application of mid-infrared (MIR) spectroscopy as a screening tool for
the determination of sugar adulteration in honey is discussed Honey samples
with different adulterant sugars were scanned using the attenuated total r
eflectance accessory of the Bio-Rad FTS-6000 Fourier transform spectrometer
Adulterants considered were glucose, fructose, sucrose, and corn syrup. Pr
edictive models were developed to classify the adulterated honey samples us
ing discriminant analysis. Spectral data was compressed using principal com
ponent analysis, and linear discriminant and canonical variate techniques w
ere used to discriminate adulterated honey samples. The correct classificat
ion of 100% was achieved using canonical variate analysis for honey samples
adulterated with corn syrup and sugar mixtures. The best predictive models
achieved using linear discriminant analyses correctly classified 90% of va
lidation test for sucrose and corn syrup adulterated samples. Results demon
strated that discriminant analysis of the spectra of adulterated honey samp
les could be used for classification.