A New Methodology Based on GC−MS To Detect Honey Adulteration with Commercial Syrups

Abstract

Honey adulterations can be carried out by addition of inexpensive sugar syrups, such as high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and inverted syrup (IS). Carbohydrate composition of 20 honey samples (16 nectar and 4 honeydew honeys) and 6 syrups has been studied by GC and GC−MS in order to detect differences between both sample groups. The presence of difructose anhydrides (DFAs) in these syrups is described for the first time in this paper; their proportions were dependent on the syrup type considered. As these compounds were not detected in any of the 20 honey samples analyzed, their presence in honey is proposed as a marker of adulteration. Detection of honey adulteration with HFCS and IS requires a previous enrichment step to remove major sugars (monosaccharides) and to preconcentrate DFAs. A new methodology based on yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) treatment has been developed to allow the detection of DFAs in adulterated honeys in concentrations as low as 5% (w/w). Keywords: Adulteration; honey; syrup; difructose anhydrides (DFAs); yeast; GC−MS.

Comparison of fractionation techniques to obtain prebiotic galactooligosaccharides

“…The highest concentration and recovery of tri-and tetrasaccharides was obtained with yeast treatment. This technique can be used to enrich the sample by elimination of monosaccharides for analytical purposes (Ruiz-Matute et al, 2007). However, the disadvantages of the yeast treatment for the purification of GOS are the incapacity of the yeast cells to remove the disaccharides, the subsequent need for elimination of these cells from the sample and the metabolic products formed during the fermentation, such as glycerol or trehalose.…”

Endüstriyel Ticari Şekerlerin Farklı Şerbet Seviyeleri İle Beslenen Bal Arısı (Apis mellifera L.) Kolonilerinden Üretilmiş Katkılı ve Saf Balların Biyokimyasal Özellikler Yönünden Karşılaştırılması

“…However, adulteration has been performed directly via the addition of commercial sugar syrups to the honey [5,6] or indirectly via overfeeding honey bee colonies with these commercial industrial sugars during the main nectar flow period [3,7,8] . These industrial sugars used for adulteration are produced from sugar beet and mainly maize starch by heat, enzyme or acid treatment producing a substance known as High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS).…”

Sample Preparation for the Determination of Carbohydrates in Food and Beverages

“…Saccharomyces cerevisiae has been shown to selectively remove certain mono-, di-, and trisaccharides, 32 and has been used to decrease glucose and fructose concentrations in honey that interfere in the analysis of minor oligosaccharides. 33 Figure 11 shows the GC profile of trimethylsilyl (TMS) oximes of honey carbohydrates before and after yeast treatment. As can be observed, monosaccharides (fraction I) have almost disappeared with this treatment.…”