Application of near infrared spectroscopy and classical analytical methods for the evaluation of Hungarian honey

People have recently started to pay more attention to the healthier lifestyle, which also includes the consumption of more natural and less processed food products. Honey as one of the most often used natural sweeteners has also been reconsidered and more commonly used. However, honey has also been the target of food adulteration due to its emerging use and relatively high price. Therefore, there is an increasing need to develop rapid evaluation methods for the identification of honey from different sources. Experiments have been performed with 79 authentic honey samples of different floral and geographical origins, mainly from Hungary. The standard analytical parameters used to characterize the nutritional values of honey such as antioxidant capacity, polyphenol content, ash content, pH, conductivity have been determined. The samples were also analyzed with a benchtop near infrared (NIR) spectrometer to record their NIR spectra. The data acquired with NIR spectroscopy measurements were evaluated with various univariate and multivariate statistical methods. Results gained with a limited sample set show that NIR spectroscopy might be useful for the identification of floral and geographical origin of honey samples. Further experiments are proposed to build a robust database, which could support the use of NIR spectroscopy as a quick alternative for honey authentication.