Honey, as one of nature’s most esteemed commodities, has long been used for its health benefits and taste.
But, because of the tremendous pure honey production costs, adulteration is found all over the place in the market.
By mixing some other substances like sugar syrups, glucose, or many artificial sweeteners in honey, its quality is reduced, and customers are cheated. Adulteration detection is necessary to confirm that the honey you are consuming is pure and real.
However, it relies upon scientific methodologies and laboratory tests for more real levels of trustworthiness and precision. But there are also a few domestic exams available.
In this post, we will talk about the simple lab testing methods to detect adulteration in honey.
Understanding the Importance of Testing Honey for Adulteration
Honey adulteration is not only a consumer problem, but it also damages the image of honey dealers. Raw honey is high in antioxidants, enzymes, and nutrients that can help your body to function at its best. The presence of low-quality substances in honey can compromise these properties. Adulterated honey can even be harmful to health, particularly for those susceptible to added sugars or chemicals. Thus, it is very important to check the authenticity of honey and also its health benefits. These lab tests are more definitive, backed up by science, and provide insightful results that help in impurity identification.
The Basics of Honey Composition
Before getting into testing methods, first, let’s see how honey is composed. Honey is composed mainly of sugars, glucose, fructose and other substances including water, enzymes, vitamins, and minerals. It features a unique chemical profile that can be altered with the addition of chemicals. When it is diluted with artificial sugars or chemicals, the composition changes. Lab tests look for these differences to tell if something has been added.
Simple Lab Testing Methods for Honey Adulteration
These basic laboratory tests are effective at uncovering adulteration in honey. The advanced and most commonly used testing methods such as chromatography or spectroscopy necessitate complex machinery. However, the tests below are simple to perform on honey in a laboratory environment to ensure its genuineness.
- Moisture Content Test
The water or moisture content in honey is a very important index to show its quality. Water is usually less than 20% in pure honey. Honey with high moisture levels indicates dilution, especially using sugar syrups or water. The most precise way to determine the moisture content in honey is a refractometer. A refractometer is used to perform this test by shining light through the honey sample and giving a moisture percentage. A moisture content much greater than normal would suggest the addition of water or syrups.
- Fiehe’s Test
The test is very simple and is one of the most effective tests to detect adulteration with substances such as commercial glucose and inverted sugar in honey. A small amount of honey is prepared in anhydrous ether for this test. After this, the mixture is filtered, and hydrochloric acid is added to it. If the solution goes reddish, it means that glucose or inverted sugar has been added to honey.
- Aniline Chloride Test
It can tell you if your honey is adulterated with starch. Identification is performed using only acetic aniline as a reagent. The solution turns yellow in the presence of starch. It is a simple test to identify starchy adulterants sometimes added to honey as a filler/plumping agent.
- Ash Content Test
Ash found in pure honey is very low, typically under 0.6%. Honey burned in a lab leaves an ash — which is the remainder of minerals. The ash content test involves heating the sample to remove all organic matter and leave just mineral residues. If there is a comparatively higher amount of ash content than expected, sugar or other additives might be present in the sample.
- Seliwanoff’s Test
Seliwanoff’s test detects only fructose (a natural sugar of honey). This test is good for testing if additional sugar like high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) has been added to the honey. Add a small amount of resorcinol and hydrochloric acid to the honey and heat it. A red colour indicates the presence of fructose if it has been added during adulteration with HFCS.
Legal Standards and Regulations
There is an issue of consumer choice involved in identifying an adulterate, and its enforcement. In a lot of countries, there are quality standards on the level of honey purity. Honey producers rely greatly on lab testing to ensure these legal requirements are met and they do not incur fines or have their products banned.
Conclusion
Honey fraud is another common issue of quality and safety of this important part of our diet in the world.
While many of the at-home test kits can give a preliminary idea of adulteration, the best way to determine that honey has not been adulterated is through laboratory testing.
As basic tests as Fiehe’s test, moisture content, and Seliwanoff give us genuine results in the identification of common adulterants.
As a result, producers and suppliers can collaborate with well-known laboratories such as IRCLASS Systems and Solutions Pvt Ltd (ISSPL) that provide a wide range of analytical testing services with effective tools and professional staff.
Enhanced honey adulteration detection is more desired as consumers expand their knowledge and state governments set higher standards.
This will not only safeguard the consumers but also the image of the honey industry as well from different frauds.
By professional laboratory testing and cooperation with qualified testing centres, this natural resource should be protected from contamination or addition of other substances.
