Application of Total Reflection X-ray Spectrometry in Combination with Chemometric Methods for Determination of the Botanical Origin of Slovenian Honey

Abstract

This work on the botanical origin of various types of honey produced in Slovenia and based on the mineral content analyses by the total reflection X-ray spectrometry (TXRF) is a continuation of this group's preliminary work (Golob, T.; Doberšek, U.; Kump, P.; Nečemer, M. Food Chem. 2005, 91, 593-600), which introduced the analytical methodology and employed only a simple statistical evaluation and which examined the possibility to determine the botanical origin of honey samples via elemental content. A much more comprehensive study on a total of 264 major types of honey samples harvested in 2004, 2005, and 2006 and interpreting the results with up to date chemometric methods was performed in this work. Slovenia is a small country by surface area, but it is pedologically and climatically diverse, therefore offering interesting possibilities for studying the influence of these diversities on the elemental content of natural products. By employing principal component analysis (PCA) and regularized discriminant analysis (RDA) it was established that from all of the measured elements only the four characteristic key elements Cl, K, Mn, and Rb could be used to best discriminate the types of honey. It was established that the employed combination of a simple, fast, and inexpensive multielement TXRF analytical approach and the evaluation of data by chemometric methods has the potential to discriminate the botanical origins of various types of honey.

Free fluoride determination in honey by ion-specific electrode potentiometry: Method assessment, validation and application to real unifloral samples

“…However, more recently a number of studies have been published concerning the effective relationship between the elemental (and/or ionic) composition of honey and its botanical origin -often obtained through a chemometric analysis of the data (Camina et al, 2012;Chen et al, 2014;Baralkiewicz, 2010, 2011;de AldaGarcilope et al, 2012;Grembecka and Szefer, 2013;Lachman et al, 2007;Pisani et al, 2008;Necemer et al, 2009;Sahinler et al, 2009;Wang and Li, 2011;Yu¨cel andSultanog˘lu, 2012 and. To the best of our knowledge, no previous study has ever ascertained a possible contribution of fluoride ion to the definition of the botanical origin of the honey.…”

Determination of Trace Elements in Honey from Different Regions in Rio de Janeiro State (Brazil) by Total Reflection X‐Ray Fluorescence

“…Knowledge of the physiological significance of trace elements in human nutrition has expanded considerably, and significant contributions regarding trace elements contained in bee honey have been made during the past several years (Conti ; Nanda and others ; Rashed and Soltan ; Hernández and others ; Necemer and others ). There is an increasing need for sensitive and reliable methods to identify and quantify trace elements that are present in honey.…”

The use of wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence and discriminant analysis in the identification of the elemental composition of cumin samples and the determination of the country of origin

“…An overview of the determination of the geographical origin of food products using a variety of techniques is given by Luykx and van Ruth (2008). More recent studies include the determination of floral honey originating from different regions (Bilandžić et al, 2011) and determination of the botanical origin of Slovenian honey (Nečemer et al, 2009). Of those that differentiate specifically among plants and/or spices applying statistical treatment of the elements measured include the differentiation of geographic growing origins of coffee (Anderson & Smith, 2002), garlic (Smith, 2005), dried sea cucumber products (Wu et al, 2009), and pumpkin seed oil (Joebstl, Bandoniene, Meisel, & Chatzistathis, 2010).…”