The global market for varietal honeys, or honeys produced from a dominant botanical source, has grown dramatically in recent years. Certain varietals are prized by meadmakers for the organoleptic qualities that they lend to fermented honey wines, while other varietals are purported to convey specific health benefits to the consumer. Given the economic pressures that impact the cost and availability of high-demand varietals, there is an ongoing need for the development of analytical techniques that can validate that the labeling of honey varietals is accurate and that the honeys are free from adulteration by less desirable varietals or non-honey sugar sources, such as rice or corn syrup. We have made efforts towards using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR) to create ‘fingerprints’ of specific varietals by identifying unique collections of molecular markers specific to particular varietal honeys of interest. This rapid, non-destructive technique provides the ability to sense multiple chemical compounds simultaneously with minimal sample preparation, unlike most other analytical techniques in use in the honey industry. By combining this technique with multivariate analysis, we are able to distinguish between different honey varietals based on the differences in the minor chemical constituents that emanate from the original botanical source.

Fingerprinting of varietal honeys using nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

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