Honey Quality Control: Review of Methodologies for Determining Entomological Origin

Abstract

Honey is a widely consumed natural product, and its entomological origin can significantly influence its market value. Therefore, traceability of the entomological origin of honey should also be considered in honey quality control protocols. Although several methods exist, such as physicochemical characterization and bioactivity profiling of honey of different entomological origins, the most promising three methods for entomological authentication of honey include protein-based identification, chemical profiling, and a DNA-based method. All of these methods can be applied for reliable identification of the entomological origin of honey. However, as the honey is a complex matrix, the inconsistency of the results obtained by these methods is a pragmatic challenge, and therefore, the use of each method in all the cases is questionable. Most of these methodologies can be used for authentication of newly harvested honey and it is worth understanding the possibility of using these methods for authentication of relatively old samples. Most probably, using DNA-based methods targeting small fragments of DNA can provide the best result in old samples, however, the species-specific primers targeting short fragments are limited and not available for all species. Therefore, using universal primers in combination with a DNA metabarcoding approach can be a good solution that requires further investigation. This present article describes the applications of different methods, their pros, and their cons to identify honey based on entomological origin.

An innovative molecular approach towards the cost-effective entomological authentication of honey

“…Honey DNA is a mixture of DNA from many different organisms, such as honey bees, plants, and microorganisms 28 , 29 and it can be used to authenticate the plant species that the honey bees foraged from 30 , 31 , distinguish the geographical origin of honey 32 , 33 , trace the entomological origin of honey 17 , 34 , and monitor the health of the honey bee colony 35 – 37 . The quality of DNA plays a significant role in verifying the authenticity of food products using molecular methods, and it can be influenced by several factors, such as the manufacturing process, extraction technique, and composition of the food matrix, among various other considerations 25 .…”

“…In recent years, researchers have also been attempting to utilize various traceability techniques for declaring the insect origins of honey 17 , 18 . It should be noted that among these methods, DNA-based approaches have demonstrated remarkable stability, wide applicability, and extraordinary specificity in identifying the entomological origins of honey.…”