Composition of Sulla (Hedysarum coronarium L.) Honey Solvent Extractives Determined by GC/MS: Norisoprenoids and Other Volatile Organic Compounds

Samples of unifloral sulla (Hedysarum coronarum L.) honey from Sardinia (Italy) were analysed. To investigate the chemical composition of the honey volatiles two solvent systems were used for ultrasonic solvent extraction (USE): 1) a 1: 2 (v/v) pentane and diethyl ether mixture and 2) dichloromethane. All the extracts were analysed by GC and GC/MS. These procedures have permitted the identification of 56 compounds that include norisoprenoids, benzene derivatives, aliphatic compounds and Maillard reaction products. Norisoprenoids were the major compounds in both extracts, dominated by vomifoliol (5.3-11.2%; 9.6-14.0%) followed by minor percentages of other norisoprenoids such as alpha-isophorone, 4-ketoisophorone, 3-oxo-alpha-ionol or 3-oxo-alpha-ionone. Other abundant single compounds in the extracts were 3-hydroxy-4-phenylbutan-2-one (0.8-5.4%; 0.6-5.7%) and methyl syringate (3.0-5.7%; 2.2-4.1%). The composition of the volatiles and semi-volatiles in the obtained extracts suggests that sulla honey is quite distinctive relative to the other honeys that have been chemically studied by GC/MS, but no specific markers of the honey botanical origin were found.