Project details

Short Abstract

The EU Commission encourages the development of methods for the assessment of honey botanical origin, since authenticity guarantees its quality and economic value. The wide assortment of unifloral honeys is available as a result of production in different regions with specific climatic conditions and a wide range of floral sources, but with no determined chemical fingerprints or nutritional properties that is focus of this research project. Pollen microscopic analysis of collected samples will be used for botanical origin confirmation according to the National and EU regulations. As it is known, the volatile aroma profile is one of the most typical features of a food product, for both organoleptic quality and authenticity. Therefore, different extraction techniques will be employed in order to find the most suitable ones that enable honey volatiles isolation without artefacts formation. Isolated volatiles will be analysed by gas chromatography - mass spectrometry (GC-MS) in order to determine new volatile fingerprints. Further extension of honey chemical fingerprints can be achieved by spectrophotometric (UV/VIS) and chromatographic (HPLC) methods or others. From a nutritional point of view, many studies indicated that the antioxidant activity of honeys varies widely, depending on the floral source. Many different methods are appropriate for assessing the antioxidant activity and in most cases it is necessary to use several tests to obtain good reliability since there is no official method for honey antioxidant activity determination. Full Abstract

Total amount: 27.000 EUR 

Project duration: 01.09.2008. - 01.09.2010.

Project Leader:

• Dr. Igor Jerković, assistant prof., Department of Organic Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry and Technology, University of Split, Split, Croatia
  e-mail: igor@ktf-split.hr

Co-workers:

• Dr. Carlo I. G. Tuberoso, assistant prof., Department of Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italia
  e-mail: tuberoso@unica.it

• Zvonimir Marijanović, assistant, Department of Food Technology, “Marko Marulić” - Polytechnic of Knin, Knin, Croatia
  e-mail: zmarijanovic@veleknin.hr
  

Results: determined potential chemical biomarkers of the honey botanical origin and volatile profiles of different unifloral honeys from Croatia and Italy by GC-MS and HPLC; determined antioxidant capacity of the honeys; detail results are published in 13 research papers registered in Current Contents, 2 other papers and presented at 8 international and 5 national congresses (project bibliography)

Lectures: 5 lectures (project bibliography)