Abstract:In order to quickly identify four common monofloral honeys (Medlar honey, Chaste honey, Jujube honey and Locust honey), non-sugar substances were used in this work. The non-sugar substances of honey were extracted by solid phase extraction (SPE) and sugar was removed. The determination of honey floral origin was carried out by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) combined with chemometrics. The non-sugar characteristic markers of these four monofloral honeys were found. The contents of rutin, methyl syringate and ferulic acid were significantly different among the four monofloral honeys. P-hydroxybenzoic acid and abscisic acid can be considered as floral origin markers of medlar honey with an average content of 0.59 μg/g and 0.42 μg/g, respectively. The average content of p-coumaric and cinnamic acid in chaste honey is 0.08 μg/g and 0.05 μg/g, respectively, which can be used as potential flower origin markers for chaste honey. Ferulic acid and isoferulic acid can be the characteristic markers of jujube honey with an average content of 0.40 μg/g and 0.76 μg/g, respectively. The characteristic markers of locust honey are rutin and methyl syringate with an average content of 0.08 μg/g and 0.14 μg/g, respectively. HPLC fingerprint combined with chemometrics (principal component analysis and discriminant analysis) was used, and the four monofloral honeys were successfully distinguished according to their floral origins. This study has important reference value for the determination of honey authenticity, which lays a foundation for the subsequent identification of honey.
