Honey adulteration detection: voltammetric e-tongue versus official methods for physicochemical parameter...

Area of Science:

• Analytical Chemistry
• Food Science
• Sensor Technology

Background:

• Honey adulteration poses a significant challenge to the food industry.
• Assessing honey authenticity requires reliable and efficient detection methods.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy of a voltammetric electronic tongue (e-tongue) for detecting honey adulteration.
• To compare the e-tongue's performance against traditional physicochemical parameters.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 55 authentic and 150 adulterated honey samples using a voltammetric e-tongue with multiple electrodes (Ag/AgCl, glassy carbon, Au, Ag, Pt, glass).
• Adulterants included fructose, glucose, inverted sugar, hydrolyzed inulin syrup, and malt wort at varying concentrations (5-50%).
• Comparison with physicochemical analyses: pH, free acidity, electrical conductivity (EC), and CIEL*a*b* color parameters.

Main Results:

• The e-tongue and physicochemical methods achieved a 97.50% overall correct classification rate for authentic and adulterated honeys.
• The e-tongue demonstrated superior performance in classifying adulterated samples, with an 83.33% correct classification rate compared to 73.33% for physicochemical parameters.

Conclusions:

• The voltammetric e-tongue is a fast, easy, and accurate tool for honey adulteration detection.
• The e-tongue can be utilized in situ by beekeepers, providing valuable data on electrical conductivity and free acidity.