Determination of adulteration of different types of commercial honey samples by the 13C/12C isotopic ratio

摘要

Honey is a widely used product and its commercial importance has increased during the last 20 years. Determination of adulteration by conventional laboratory methods is a challenging topic. However, difference in ~(13)C/~(12)C isotope ratio in %o, between honey and its protein fraction gives qualitative and quantitative result on honey adulteration. A pure honey is distinctly different from that of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) or cane sugar. It is possible to detect certain adulterations of honey such as addition of cane sugar or corn syrup or bee's winter food by Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry (IRMS). While the delta (δ~(13)C) value for bee-produced honey (or beet sugar which is C3 plant) is around -25.5 %o, it is about 11.5 %o for cane sugar or corn syrup [6-7]. The ~(13)C/~(12)C value for honey and its protein fraction should not differ more than 1 %o for delta (5). Honey samples were collected from different regions in Turkey and analyzed to determine possible adulteration due to the addition of cane sugar or corn syrup. The range of values found for bee-produced honey is from -23.29 %o ± 0.84 to -26.25 %o ± 0.95 for C3 plants and from -11.46 %o ± 0.41 to -21.01 %o ± 0.76 for C4 plants. Method validation and uncertainty budget are also included.