Quantification of Saccharides in Multiple Floral Honeys Using Fourier Transform Infrared Microattenuated Total Reflectance Spectroscopy

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy with microattenuated total reflectance (mATR) sampling accessory and chemometrics (partial least squares and principal component regression) was used for the simultaneous determination of saccharides such as fructose, glucose, sucrose, and maltose in honey. Two calibration models were developed. The first model used a set of 42 standard mixtures of fructose, glucose, sucrose, and maltose prepared over the range of concentrations normally present in honey, whereas the second model used a set of 45 honey samples from various floral and regional sources. The developed models were validated with different data sets and verified by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) measurements. The R (2) values between the FTIR-mATR predicted and HPLC results of the different sugars were between 0.971 and 0.993, demonstrating the predictive ability and accuracy of the procedure.