Goran Šarić

Rapid honey characterization and botanical classification by an electronic tongue

In this paper a commercial electronic tongue (αAstree, Alpha M.O.S.) was applied for botanical classification and physicochemical characterization of honey samples. The electronic tongue was comprised of seven potentiometric sensors coupled with an Ag/AgCl reference electrode. Botanical classification was performed by PCA, CCA and ANN modeling on 12 samples of acacia, chestnut and honeydew honey. The physicochemical characterization of honey was obtained by ANN modeling and the parameters included were electrical conductivity, acidity, water content, invert sugar and total sugar. The initial reference values for the physicochemical parameters observed were determined by traditional methods. Botanical classification of honey samples obtained by ANN was 100% accurate while the highest correlation between observed and predicted values was obtained for electrical conductivity (0.999), followed by acidity (0.997), water content (0.994), invert sugar content (0.988) and total sugar content (0.979). All developed ANN models for rapid honey characterization and botanical classification performed excellently showing the potential of the electronic tongue as a tool in rapid honey analysis and characterization. The advantage of using such a technique is a simple sample preparation procedure, there are no chemicals involved and there are no additional costs except the initial measurements required for ANN model development.

Mineral Profile of Croatian Honey and Differences Due to its Geographical Origin

Ursulin-Trstenjak N., Levanic D., Primorac L., Bosnir J., Vahcic N., Saric G. (2015): Mineral profile of Croatian honey and differences due to its geographical origin. Czech J. Food Sci., 33: 156–164. The proportions of twelve minerals were determined in 200 samples of the black locust honey from five Croatian regions during two seasons. The average proportions were dominated by that of K (205.57–428.05 mg/kg), followed by Ca (33.53–329.00 mg/kg) and Na (23.34–218.04mg/kg), which was in percentages as follows: K 31.69–81.34%, Ca 6.51–35.56%, and Na 7.36–23.65%. Melissopalynological and physico-chemical analysis of honey confirmed its general quality requirements and botanical origin. One-factor analysis of variance showed a significant differences between the regions in each season based on the average proportions of macro and micro elements except for Mn and Cd in season 2 ( P < 0.05). t -Test enabled an insight into the significance of differences between the seasons within each region based on the average proportions of macro and micro elements. Principal components analysis (PCA) showed that Al (Bjelovar-Bilogora), Fe (Bjelovar-Bilogora and Istria), Cu (Eastern Croatia), and K (Istria) could present mineral substances typical for the black locust honey of each region.