PHYSICO-CHEMICAL AND TEXTURAL PROPERTIES OF HONEYS FROM NORTH EAST PART OF ROMANIA

Abstract

The aim of this study is to evaluate the physico-chemical (pH, a_w, free acidity, Brix concentration, moisture content, ash content, colour parameters (L*, a*, b*, chroma, hue angle and yellow index, glucose, fructose and sucrose content) and textural (hardness, viscosity, adhesion, cohesiveness, springiness, gumminess and chewiness)) properties of 5 samples of honey of different floral origins (acacia, tilia, sunflower, honeydew and polyfloral). The physico-chemical parameters of honey were in agreement with those reported by other scientists. The moisture content of all the five samples do not exceeded the maximum allowable level of 20% established by the European Commission. The acacia and tilia honeys presented green components, while all the honey presented yellow components. The highest yellow index has observed in the case of tilia honey. The data were submitted to principal component analysis (PCA) and it was found that the two principal components (PCs) explained 100% of the variations in the data set. The PC1 explains 99% of the variability and the PC2 explains 1%. The PC1 separates the honey into two groups: one group below the PC1 represented by acacia, sunflower and polyfloral honeys and the second group below the PC1 represented by tilia and honeydew honeys.