Insight into the Recent Application of Chemometrics in Quality Analysis and Characterization of Bee Honey during Processing and Storage

Abstract

The application of chemometrics, a widely used science in food studies (and not only food studies) has begun to increase in importance with chemometrics being a very powerful tool in analyzing large numbers of results. In the case of honey, chemometrics is usually used for assessing honey authenticity and quality control, combined with well-established analytical methods. Research related to investigation of the quality changes in honey due to modifications after processing and storage is rare, with a visibly increasing tendency in the last decade (and concentrated on investigating novel methods to preserve the honey quality, such as ultrasound or high-pressure treatment). This review presents the evolution in the last few years in using chemometrics in analyzing honey quality during processing and storage. The advantages of using chemometrics in assessing honey quality during storage and processing are presented, together with the main characteristics of some well-known chemometric methods. Chemometrics prove to be a successful tool to differentiate honey samples based on changes of characteristics during storage and processing.

Assessing the Impact of Botanical Origins, Harvest Years, and Geographical Variability on the Physicochemical Quality of Serbian Honey

“…The obtained results of physicochemical parameters of 609 honey samples were presented by descriptive analysis of the results obtained for different botanical origins of honey samples (Table 1), different years of harvest (Table 2), and different regions of the harvested samples (Table 3). Based on Table 1, there were six types of honey identified: acacia (213 samples), honeydew (29), linden (34), monofloral (8), polyfloral (302), and sunflower honey (23). In Table 2, the data show that 209 samples were collected in 2018, followed by 80 samples in 2019, 78 samples in 2020, 108 samples in 2021, and 113 samples in 2022, with an additional 21 collected in 2023.…”

“…In honey samples, the ratio of glucose and fructose within the total content of monosaccharides should be approximate, with a higher fructose proportion [34,35]. Additionally, fructose and glucose ratios could be used to differentiate monofloral types of honey [9].…”

“…Its value should not be higher than 5 g/100 g, except for in acacia, alfalfa, heather, citrus fruits, and eucalyptus honey, which can contain up to 10% [1,2]. Through sucrose and enzyme interactions during honey ripening, glucose and fructose are generated [4,34]. According to the statement by Osaili et al [30], a high sucrose content and the low sum of monosaccharides could be due to overfeeding the bees or to the early harvesting of honey before the complete transformation of sugar into glucose and fructose.…”

“…As the recommended level for diastase activity is not less than 8 Schade units [1,2], four values (obtained for two acacia honey samples from the Central region, 2022, and Belgrade, 2018, and for two polyfloral honey samples from Belgrade, 2018) were not in the line. The level of diastase activity is influenced by the floral sources, the nectar collection period, and environmental conditions, as well as the bees themselves [9,18,34]. Low diastase activity also indicates a low content of nectar and therefore possible heat treatment, i.e., adulteration [26].…”

Changes in quality and bacterial profiles of Tualang and Kelulut honeys preserved by post‐harvest maturation

“…Conventionally, raw honey is processed at temperature of 45–80 °C for 1–45 min (Subramanian et al ., 2007) to delay crystallisation, to reduce viscosity, to remove contaminating microbes and to prevent fermentation (Subramanian et al ., 2007; Scepankova et al ., 2021). However, heat treatment is a processing method that is often accompanied with significant degradation of food quality, particularly raw honey (Wang et al ., 2004; Soni et al ., 2016; Tarapoulouzi et al ., 2023). Samborska & Czelejewska (2014) reported that multifloral honey processed at 90 °C for 30 min contained a high hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) concentration of 67.8 mg/kg.…”