Honey authentication and adulteration detection using emission – excitation spectra combined with chemometrics

• Published in: Spectrochimica acta. Part A, Molecular and biomolecular spectroscopy Molecular and biomolecular spectroscopy, 2023-05, Vol.293, p.122459, Article 122459
• Main Authors: Ropciuc, Sorina, Dranca, Florina, Pauliuc, Daniela, Oroian, Mircea
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adulteration; Chemometrics; Fluorescence spectroscopy; Honey
• ISSN: 1386-1425
• DOI: 10.1016/j.saa.2023.122459

[Display omitted] •The usefulness of EEM spectra in honey authentication and adulteration detection was analysed.•The EEM spectra was subjected SVM and PLS-DA for the discrimination of authentic honeys from adulterated one.•EEM spectra was successful in predicting the authenticity/adulteration of honey. The aim of this study was to evaluate the usefulness of emission-excitation matrices for honey authentication and adulteration detection. For this purpose, 4 types of authentic honeys (tilia, sunflower, acacia and rape) and samples adulterated with different adulteration agents (agave, maple, inverted sugar, corn and rice in different percentages – 5%, 10% and 20%) were analysed. Each honey type and each adulteration agent exhibit unique emission-excitation spectra that can be used for the classification according to the botanical origin and for the detection of adulteration. The principal component analysis clearly separated the rape, sunflower and acacia honeys. The partial least squares – discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and support vector machines (SVM) were used in a binary mode to separate the authentic honeys from the adulterated ones, and the SVM proved to separate much better than PLS-DA.