Characterisation of Swiss unifloral honeys
1997
Bogdanov, S. (Eidg. Forschungsanstalt fuer Milchwirtschaft (FAM), Liebefeld (Switzerland))
Unifloral honeys make up a significant part of Swiss blossom honey, but at present they are mostly sold under the label of "blossom honey". In this study the main Swiss unifloral honeys were characterised: chestnut, acacia, rhododendron, rape, and dandelion. There are significant crops of chestnut and rape honeys, while the other unifloral honeys ar rarer. The sensory, melissopalynological, and chemical characteristics of the honeys were determined. In routine controls all of these characteristics should be determined in order to achieve a correct classification of a unifloral honey. For chemical laboratories, which do not have a specialised melissopalynological and sensorial know-how a classification using a statistical method based on a discriminant analysis with the variables fructose, fructose/glucose ratio, conductivity, and acid content is proposed. This method correctly classified 97 percent of all unifloral honeys. With the established quality criteria Swiss beekeepers can now safely determine whether the harvested honey is unifloral by controlling the presumptive honeys at a food control laboratory
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