Determination of physico-biochemical proprieties and composition in volatile constituents by solid phase micro-extraction of honey samples from different botanical and geographical origins in Morocco

There is very little information available on the physicochemical proprieties and biochemical composition of the honey commercially available which are truly endangered in Morocco. None of the studied honey is available for commercial purposes, which is the main interest and novelty of this study. The aim of this work is to characterize and classify forty seven honey samples collected from different localities in Morocco and to compare them with two foreign honey samples from Ghana and France, based on their physicochemical proprieties, phenolic contents, radical scavenging activity and volatile compounds by SPME-GC/MS were used to evaluate the quality and cluster all honey samples. Variance analysis revealed highly significant differences between samples (p < 0.05). Monofloral honey was characterized by the highest concentration of proline (292.77 +/- 13.30). Mutifloral honey from France showed higher amounts of diastase (17.50 +/- 1.80) than other compounds, while eucalyptus honey had a higher amount of HMF (105.14 +/- 3.7) than the others. Multifloral honey from Ghana showed higher contents of total phenol (149.31 +/- 0.41 mg GAE/100g) and flavonoids (58.28 +/- 2.6mgRu/100g) than carotenoids (40.76 +/- 0.7 mg E beta carotene/100g). Thyme honey showed the highest phenol content (70.97 +/- 1.35 mg GAE/100g), flavonoids content (47.18 +/- 2.43 mg ERu/100g) and carotenoids content (74.94 +/- 3.08mE beta-carotene) than other monofloral honey and glucose honey examined. The principal components analysis (PCA) was performed in order to classify honey samples and identify the most discriminant parameters. Lastly, using ANOVA and correlations for all parameters, significant differences between diverse types of honey were examined. Biochemical and SPME/GC/MS methods were used to propose a complementary approach for honey classification.

Automated summary

This study examined the physicochemical properties and biochemical composition of commercially available honey in Morocco, as well as samples from Ghana and France. Significant differences were found in various parameters among different types of honey, and the classification of honey samples was achieved through principal component analysis. This study proposed a complementary approach for honey classification using biochemical and SPME/GC/MS methods.