In this study, the concentrations of K, Ca, Mg, Na, P, and S and element ratios were determined in 140 Hungarian mono-floral honey samples (acacia, linden, sunflower, rape, chestnut, forest, silk grass, and facelia) by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). The results were chemometrically analysed using one-way ANOVA (LSD and Dunnett T3 test) and linear discriminant analysis (LDA) to determine the botanical origin based on the element content and element ratio of different honey types. Examination of element ratios showed that K/Na and K/Mg ratios were able to separate every honey type from each other with 100% cross-validation.
Read the abstract at: Floral origin of honey
Comments