The application of amino acid analysis to the determination of the geographical origin of honey

Abstract Honeys from four geographical areas were characterized by a selection of sixty amino acid ratios, calculated from amino acid analysis data. Tests were carried out on sixteen samples of honey which came from these characterized areas using the selected amino acid ratios and on a reduced set of ratios in which the number of correlated ratios had been reduced. Fifteen samples were correctly identified by the full ratio set and fourteen samples by the reduced set. No sample failed both tests. Forty-two honeys which did not come from these areas were also tested and only one sample was incorrectly identified as originating from a characterized area. These results support the proposal that amino acid analysis could be used as an instrumental method of determining the geographical source of a honey, in place of the highly subjective method of pollen analysis. However, further work is required before the method could be recommended for official use. The possibility of applying the same techniques to other problems of food source identity is noted.