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Combined approach to studying authenticity markers following spatial, temporal and production practice trends in honey from Croatia

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Abstract

The confirmation of honey authenticity is an ongoing challenge. We investigated new authenticity markers (13 macro and trace elements, total phenolic (TP) content, antioxidant capacity) in 62 unifloral and multifloral honeys from Croatia as loadings for principal component analysis (PCA), taking into account the spatial, temporal and production practice variation and combining them with traditional tools for authentication of the botanical origin (melissopalynological, sensory and physicochemical analyses). PCA as a chemometric tool was compliant with basic statistical testing results (Mann–Whitney U test) figuring Ba and Mn, and also pointed to TP, antioxidant capacity parameters, Ca, K and Mg (PC1) as useful markers for discriminating chestnut honey from other unifloral and multifloral honeys. The first PC discerned deciduous honeydew honey sample fairly from nectar honey samples. Although some elements showed regional, seasonal and production practice differences, PCA was not able to discriminate between all groups clearly. Our nutritional assessment based on a calculation of the contribution to the Dietary Reference Value pinpointed deciduous honeydew honey, savory and chestnut honey with the highest daily mineral intake relevance among seven honey types.

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The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank local beekeepers for donating honey samples and Dr Zdenko Franić for collecting samples of chestnut honey from the Banovina region (Banski med). We also wish to thank Mr Makso Herman for language editing.

Funding

Some chemical analyses carried out in this study were financially supported by the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia through Institutional Funding made available to the Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Ksaverska cesta 2, P.O. Box 291, 10001, Zagreb, Croatia

    Maja Lazarus, Blanka Tariba Lovaković, Ankica Sekovanić, Tatjana Orct & Andreja Jurič

  2. Faculty of Agriculture, University of Zagreb, Svetošimunska cesta 25, 10000, Zagreb, Croatia

    Saša Prđun & Dragan Bubalo

  3. Croatian Veterinary Institute, Ivana Zakmardija Dijankovečkog 10, 48260, Križevci, Croatia

    Marija Denžić Lugomer

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  1. Maja Lazarus
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  4. Tatjana Orct
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Contributions

ML: Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Writing—Original Draft, Writing—Review & Editing, Visualization, Supervision; BTL: Resources, Validation, Formal analysis, Writing—Review & Editing; AS: Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis; TO: Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis; AJ: Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation; SP: Methodology, Formal analysis, Visualization; MDL: Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis; DB: Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing—Review & Editing.

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Correspondence to Blanka Tariba Lovaković.

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Lazarus, M., Tariba Lovaković, B., Sekovanić, A. et al. Combined approach to studying authenticity markers following spatial, temporal and production practice trends in honey from Croatia. Eur Food Res Technol 247, 1511–1523 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00217-021-03728-8

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