Discrimination of Tunisian Honey by Mineral and Trace Element Chemometrics Profiling

The concentrations of 19 chemical elements have been determined in 36 honey samples of different botanical (wildflower, eucalyptus, eucalyptus red flowers, prickly pears, lemon blossom, thyme, almond, rosemary and jujube) honeys from the three geographical areas of Tunisia (Sidi Bouzid, Nabeul and Sfax) using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The aim of this work was to use the multielement analysis together with chemometric tools to verify the botanical and the geographical origin of honeys. The correlation on the basis of mineral element content between the honey samples and their botanical and/or geographical origins was in some measure achieved. The data collected on the samples were also used to evaluate the nutritional quality and the potential health risks associated with elements via consumption of the Tunisian honey. According to the results obtained, the intake of essential elements was small, and the potential health risks associated with toxic or potentially toxic elements via consumption of this food were overall insignificant.