Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 26, 2026

Sampling and Pretreatment of Tooth Enamel Carbonate for Stable Carbon and Oxygen Isotope Analysis
Published on: August 15, 2018
Stable carbon isotope ratios for organic acids in commercial honey samples
Hiroto Kawashima1, Momoka Suto1, Nana Suto1
1Department of Management Science and Engineering, Faculty of Systems Science and Technology, Akita Prefectural University, 84-4, Ebinokuchi, Tuchiya, Yuri-Honjyo, Akita 015-0055, Japan.
Abstract:
Stable carbon isotope ratios (δ13C) for glucose, fructose, disaccharides, trisaccharides, and organic acids in 116 commercial honey samples were measured by LC/IRMS. On the basis of EA/IRMS and LC/IRMS authenticity criteria, 39 of the samples were judged to have been adulterated. The δ13C values for organic acids from pure honey, reported here for the first time, ranged from -33.6 to -26.5‰. The mean Δδ13C (glucose-organic acids) value was +3.7 ± 0.9‰. Glucose and organic acid δ13C values were strongly correlated (R = 0.71, P < 0.001). Gluconic acid, the predominant organic acid in honey, has been reported to be produced via decomposition of glucose by bee glucose-oxidase and certain Gluconobacter spp. This fact was confirmed by isotope analysis.
Related Concept Videos
Isotopes
An element's atomic mass, or weight,...
Elements: Chemical Symbols and Isotopes
Some symbols are derived from the common English name of the element; others are abbreviations of the name in another language — Latin, Greek or German. For example, the symbol for aluminum (common name)...
Bicarbonate-Carbonic Acid Buffer
The Carbon Cycle
Amino acids
Carbon Skeletons

