Sugars Profile of Citrus (Citrus spp.) Honey for Quality Determination

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Bee Research Department, Plant Protection Research Institute, Agriculture research Centre, Ministry of Agriculture, Giza, Egypt.

Abstract

Honey is considered a broad nutritional substance with nutritional, vital and therapeutic value due to its distinctive ingredients. Therefore, the determination of its purity is of utmost importance. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of different feed types on sugars profiles of citrus honey. In this work, three types of foods presented to honey bee colonies were studied: invert sugar, sucrose solution and natural nectar. The honey produced from this feeding was characterized by equal levels of glucose and fructose in the case of invert sugar and high level of sucrose in the case of feeding with a solution of sucrose and the ideal composition for nectar of citrus trees that were represented in 42.1%, 35.5%, 0.9% and 1.6% for fructose, glucose, sucrose, and maltose, respectively. This provides a clear imprint of natural honey sugars (sugar profile), and opens the way for further research in this area to uncover ways of adulteration with honey

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