Characterization of Italian honeys: integrating volatile and physico-chemical data

This article focuses on the comprehensive characterization of Italian honeys using various physico-chemical analyses and their volatile organic compounds (VOCs) fingerprint obtained through the PTR-ToF-MS technology. Honey characteristics, including pH, electrical conductivity, moisture content, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), and sugar content, were analyzed to assess their quality and origin. Honey samples from different flowers, including acacia, chestnut, citrus, linden, and multifloral, were collected and investigated. Furthermore, a few aged honeys were collected and analyzed and compared with the fresh ones. Physico-chemical analysis revealed that chestnut honey is characterized by high pH and EC values. Acacia honey has a higher fructose content, while aging appears to influence HMF levels, a vital indicator of honey quality, with aged samples exhibiting significant increases in HMF content. The VOC profiles have been found to vary among different honey types, suggesting that VOCs could be used as indicators of honey origin. Multivariate statistical analyses, such as partial least squares discriminant analysis (PLS-DA), have been applied to the VOCs data to differentiate honey types based on their volatile profiles. Acacia honey exhibited different physicochemical parameters but on the contrary, in the VOCs analysis, it displayed similarities with the linden honey due to their shared low emissions of volatile compounds. Citrus honey had similar chemical parameters to linden and multifloral honeys, but its distinctive VOCs emission allowed for a more accurate identification. In conclusion, the analysis performed with the PTR-ToF-MS was successful in obtaining specific volatile fingerprints of those samples and was effective for improving the characterization of honeys.