engleski

Adulteration of monofloral honey with fructose syrup and possibility of detection by differential scanning calorimetry

Adulteration of honey with sugar products, especially cheap syrups, has been a problem in the honey industry for years. In this work, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) was used for the possibility of detecting adulteration in Croatian honeys. The aim of this study was to investigate the possibility of detecting fructose syrup in monofloral honeys of known botanical origin (5 acacia and 5 chestnut samples) using DSC technique. DSC scans were used to determine the thermal behaviour of syrup, honeys with known sugar composition, and artificially adulterated honeys over a very wide temperature range, i.e., as a basis for determining onset and midpoint glass transition temperatures (Tg), change in specific heat capacity and enthalpy of fusion (ΔHf). There was a significant difference in Tg temperatures between syrup and pure honey samples (13-22 °C). The results of thermal analysis showed a statistically significant difference between authentic and artificially adulterated honeys. Adulteration of honeys from 5 to 20% syrup addition caused changes in both Tg temperatures (decreasing values up to 6 °C) and ΔHf (increasing values up to 29 Jg-1).

honey ; syrup ; adulteration ; differential scanning calorimetry

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