HPLC sugar profiles of Algerian honeys

Sugar profiles of fifty honey samples from different regions of Algeria are analysed by HPLC with pulsed amperometric detection. These samples consisted of 25 multifloral and 25 unifloral honeys. Eleven sugars (two monosaccharides, nine oligosaccharides) are quantified. The mean values of fructose and glucose are in the range 35.99-42.57% and 24.63-35.06%, respectively. These monosaccharides are the main sugars of all honey samples. The sucrose, maltose, isomaltose, turanose and erlose are present nearly in all the samples, while raffinose and melezitose are detected in few samples. Furthermore, trehalose is present only in two samples and none of the samples contain melibiose. Low amounts of melezitose, raffinose and erlose are present in the range of 0.03-2.14%, 0.03-0.35% and 0.01-2.35%, respectively. PCA (Principal Component Analysis) showed that the cumulative variance was approximately 40% and Apiaceae honeys are correctly classified using FDA (Factorial Discriminant Analysis). (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.