Determination of trace elements in rape honey and its corresponding rape flower and stem by ICP-MS

The determination of 10 trace elements including Na, Mg, P, K, Ca, Mn, Zn, Rb, Sr and Ba, in rape honey and its corresponding rape flower and stem gathered from nine sampling sites was carried out by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The contents of K, P, Ca, Mg and Na were obviously higher than Zn, Rb, Mn, Sr and Ba in rape honey, rape flower and rape stem. For the first five elements, K had the highest content, followed by P, Ca, Mg and Na. However, the order of content for latter five elements was not the same in different matrixes. The contents of K, P and Ca were all higher than 1 000 mg x kg(-1) in rape flower and rape stem, while the contents of P, Ca, Mn, Zn and Rb in rape flower were slightly higher than in rape stem. It can be concluded that rape flower showed slightly higher concentrating ability for trace elements than rape stem. Based on these results, radar chart was firstly applied to research the relationship of 10 elements in rape honey and its corresponding rape flower and stem. The aim of the present work was to study the possibility of using trace elements contents in rape flower to trace the geographical and botanical origin of honey instead of rape honey. It can be found from the radar charts that the stars of rape honey, rape flower and rape stem were similar to each other. This research not only provides the basic data of trace elements in comparative study of rape honey, but also gives scientific basis for tracing the origin of rape honey according to the trace elements in corresponding rape flower that replaces those of rape honey.