Individual integrated approach to honey identification using instrumental methods of analysis and statistical processing of results

Bee honey is a valuable highly nutritive natural product; it is widely consumed among the population. Due to its high cost the natural honey often becomes the object of adulteration. The authenticity of honey is the most important criterion of quality, as on the one hand it ensures the biosecurity of honey, and provides the healthy market competition on the other hand. In this regard, the issue of honey identification is quite acute in all countries with developed beekeeping culture. The authors provide an overview of domestic and foreign regulatory documents regarding the authenticity of honey, as well as its status as a product with a controlled designation of origin. Based on the analysis of scientific literature, the most significant studies aimed to a method of honey authenticity confirmation were selected and brought out. These studies were carried out in the countries of the European Union, China, Brazil, the USA, Mexico and other countries. These studies showed that chromatographic methods and the method of isotope mass spectrometry are the most effective for detection of added sugars in honey, as well as for revealing the fact of feeding bees with various syrups. The authenticity of the botanical and geographical point of honey origin is usually determined by the principle of “fingerprints”. The principle involves collecting the values of an array of indicators and processing them by means of statistical analysis methods. To form a database, in addition to the above methods, methods of NMR spectroscopy, IR spectroscopy, PCR, ICP-MS and some others have become widely used. When determining the authenticity of the botanical and geographical origin of honey, it is also necessary to consider the specific features of local melliferous plants, bee species, soil composition and climatic conditions. Thus, an individual yet integrated approach to the identification of honey by means of the instrumental methods of analysis and statistical processing of results will become a powerful and reliable tool in determining its authenticity, including its botanical and geographical origin.