Characterization of Spanish honeys with protected designation of origin “Miel de Granada” according to their mineral content

• Published in: Food chemistry Vol. 135; no. 3; pp. 1785 - 1788
• Main Authors: de Alda-Garcilope, C., Gallego-Picó, A., Bravo-Yagüe, J.C., Garcinuño-Martínez, R.M., Fernández-Hernando, P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2012; Elsevier
• Subjects: Biological and medical sciences; Cluster Analysis; Confectionery products and chocolate industries, honey; Flame atomic spectroscopy; Food industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Honey; Honey - analysis; Honey - standards; labeling; metals; Mineral content; Minerals - analysis; prices; Protected designation of origin; Quality Control; rosemary; sensory properties; Spain; Spain; Honey; Mineral content; Protected designation of origin; Flame atomic spectroscopy; Characterization; Spanish; Protected Designation of Origin; Inorganic element
• ISSN: 0308-8146; 1873-7072
• DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2012.06.057

► Determination of only five elements content allows discrimination from honeys origins. ► Botanical origin was confirmed and can be used as tool to assess the honey quality. ► Differences were showed among rosemary honeys from different geographical areas. ► Chemometric tools showed that K and Ca concentration mark the geographic differences. ► This contributes to the groundwork studies of geographical origin of Spanish honeys. Honey attributes such as geographical origin or specified botanical sources often command a premium price due to their organoleptic or pharmacoactive properties. “Miel de Granada” is a highly quality product with protected designation of origin (PDO) which includes six monofloral honeys and two multifloral honeys. Our objective was the characterization of “Miel de Granada” according to their metal content. Metal content was specific enough and allowed discrimination from honeys of different botanical and geographical origins and confirmed the authenticity of PDO labelling as Granada product with the determination of only five elements (K, Na, Ca, Mg and Zn). Chemometric techniques as cluster analysis and ANOVA were used to classify honeys according to their botanical and geographical origin in the metal data. Metal content marks the differences in honey samples and can be used as a tool to assess the quality of honeys. ANOVA showed significant differences among rosemary honeys from different geographical areas despite the botanical factor weight. Our research contributes to the groundwork studies to determine the geographical origin of Spanish honeys.