Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy of honey

In this work we present the Fourier transform Raman spectra of several commercial samples of honey in different states, comprising nine crystallized and three fluid samples. The measured water content of the specimens bears no relationship to their fluid behavior. The relative intensities of the vibrational bands in the C-H stretching region of the FT-Raman spectra are found to be sensitive to the observed physical states of the specimens. Several observed vibrational bands in the region 500-1800 cm(-1) could be identified as fingerprints of the two major components in honey, fructose, and glucose, and at least one vibrational band was characteristic of sucrose. A relationship between the bandshape of the C-H stretching bands of honey specimens and their fluid properties was noted; crystallized samples show a well-re-solved distinctive spectrum in this region, whereas the fluid samples do not exhibit this pattern. Some minor differences in the FT-Raman spectra of the honey, specimens are discussed in terms of composition (saccharides and water) and the fluid state of the samples.