Detection of Honey Adulteration by Sugar Syrups Using One-Dimensional and Two-Dimensional High-Resolution Nuclear Magnetic Resonance

TLDR

Honey adulteration detection has become increasingly important because limited honey production and high prices make fraud attractive. The study aims to develop more effective analytical methods for detecting honey adulteration. The authors applied one‑dimensional and two‑dimensional NMR spectroscopy combined with multivariate statistical analysis to 63 authentic and 63 adulterated honey samples prepared with seven commercial sugar syrups. The 1D NMR model achieved 95.2 % predictive accuracy, while 2D NMR yielded 90.5 % accuracy, but the simpler 1H NMR technique is preferred for its speed and ease.

Abstract

The importance of honey adulteration detection has recently increased owing to the limited production levels in recent years and the relative high price of honey; therefore, this illegal practice has become more and more attractive to producers. Hence, the need has arisen for more effective analytical methods aiming at detecting honey adulteration. The present research presents an effective method to detect adulteration in honey falsified by intentional addition of different concentrations of commercial sugar syrups, using one-dimensional (1D) and two-dimensional (2D) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) coupled with multivariate statistical analysis. Sixty-three authentic and 63 adulterated honey samples were analyzed. To prepare adulterated honeys, seven different sugar syrups normally used for nutrition of bees were used. The best discriminant model was obtained by 1D spectra, and leave-one-out cross-validation showed a predictive capacity of 95.2%. 2D NMR also furnished acceptable results (cross-validation correct classification 90.5%), although the 1H NMR sequence is preferable because it is the simplest and fastest NMR technique.