Honeys

The presence of toxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids in honey has been known for several decades [42]. The potential health concerns associated with pyrrolizidine alkaloids in food [27] and honey [28] in particular demand a rapid, sensitive method of detection in various matrices. The application of LC-MS methods to honey samples extracted using sex SPE cartridges has facilitated the analysis of honey for the presence of pyrrolizidine alkaloids and their N-oxides [34,41]. The SPE and LC-MS analysis has shown that honey attributed to known pyrrolizidine alkaloid-producing sources can have levels in excess of 5000 jrg/kg honey. Further to this, honey attributed to non-pyrrolizidine alkaloid-producing floral sources and unspecified blended honeys can also have significant amounts of alkaloids present. 

The natural occurrence of varying amounts of organic acids in honeys from different geographical areas have been documented. Much research is being done to determine the use of honey as an antimicrobial agent in various food systems (Suarez-Luque et al., 2002). 

AMCA (Agrobest Multi Chelaton Advantage). 2005. Agrobest, Australia (PTY), Ltd. http //www.agrobest.com.au/amca.pdf. 

Arellano, M., Andrianary, J., Dedieu, F., Couderc, F., and Puig, P 1997. Method development and validation for the simultaneous determination of organic and inorganic acids by capillary zone electrophoresis. ]oumal of Chromatography A 765 321-328. 

Bailly, M. 2002. Production of organic acids by bipolar electrodialysis Realizations and perspectives. Desalination 144 157-162. 

Banerjee, M. and Sarkar, PK. 2004. Antibiotic resistance and susceptibility to some food preservative measures of spoilage and pathogenic microorganisms from spices. Food Microbiology 21 335-342. 

Two separate portions of 50 c.c. of the filtrate are placed in 100 c.c. flasks, one being made up to volume with distilled water and the other inverted in the ordinary way, neutralised and made up to volume both solutions are then polarised and the saccharose calculated by Clerget s formula. The results may be checked by volumetric determinations with Fehling s solution, the saccharose and the pre-existing reducing sugars being then calculated. 

Honey is analysed to ascertain if it Ls genuine or artificial or if any adulteration has taken place. To this end the following tests are made  

Sampling.—At least 250 grams of honey are required and this should be stored in a glass vessel with a ground stopper. The sample must first be thoroughly mixed, especially if there is even incipient separation into an upper liquid portion, mainly of levulose, and a lower minutely crystalline portion of dextrose. If the sample is to be taken from a large vessel) the whole of the contents should be carefully mixed and small amounts taken from different points in the bulk and thoroughly mixed. 

External Characters —Honey may be white (centrifuged honey) or brown (coniferous honey), or pale yellow, yellow, dark yellow, greenish yellow or reddish, and its taste should be more or less markedly sweet with an almost imperceptible bitter sensation (due to small proportions of malic 

Microscopic Examination.—50 grams of the honey are dissolved in about 150 c.c. of hot water and the solution filtered through a dry filter into a 250 c.c. flask. The filter is washed with small quantities of hot water and the solution made up to volume when cold and shaken this is used for tests 4, 6 and 9. The residue on the filter is usually small in amount and is examined microscopically under low and high powers to ascertain if pollen, starch granules, residues of the different organs of the bee, vegetable elements, etc., are present. 

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D-fructose, C HijOo. Crystallizes in large needles m.p. 102-104 C. The most eommon ketose sugar. Combined with glucose it occurs as sucrose and rafftnose mixed with glucose it is present in fruit juices, honey and other products inulin and levan are built of fructose residues only. In natural products it is always in the furanose form, but it crystallizes in the pyranose form. It is very soluble in... 

Assemble a 250 ml. three-necked flask, fitted with a stirrer, a reflux condenser and a dropping-funnel, as in Fig. 22(A) and (j), p. 43, or Fig. 23(c), p. 46 (or a two-necked flask, with the funnel fitted by a grooved cork (p. 255) to the top of the condenser). Place 40 ml. of ethanol in the flask, and then add 2-3 g. of sodium cut into small pieces. When all the sodium has dissolved, heat the stirred solution on the water-bath, and run in from the funnel 17 g. (17 ml.) of ethyl malonate and then (more slowly) io-2 g. (12 ml.) of mesityl oxide, the reaction-mixture meanwhile forming a thick slurry. Boil the stirred mixture under reflux for i hour, and then add a solution of 10 g. of sodium hydroxide in 50 ml. of water, and continue boiling the pale honey-coloured solution for ij hours more. 

D Fructose (a 2 ketohexose also known as levulose it IS found in honey and IS signficantly sweeter than table sugar)... 

Among sucrose glucose and fructose fructose is the sweetest Honey is sweeter than table sugar because It contains fructose formed by the isomerization of glucose as shown in the equation... 

Hexafluorophosphoric Acid. Hexafluorophosphoric acid (3) is present under ambient conditions only as an aqueous solution because the anhydrous acid dissociates rapidly to HF and PF at 25°C (56). The commercially available HPF is approximately 60% HPF based on PF analysis with HF, HPO2F2, HPO F, and H PO ia equiUbrium equivalent to about 11% additional HPF. The acid is a colorless Hquid which fumes considerably owiag to formation of an HF aerosol. Frequently, the commercially available acid has a dark honey color which is thought to be reduced phosphate species. This color can be removed by oxidation with a small amount of nitric acid. When the hexafluorophosphoric acid is diluted, it slowly hydrolyzes to the other fluorophosphoric acids and finally phosphoric acid. In concentrated solutions, the hexafluorophosphoric acid estabUshes equiUbrium with its hydrolysis products ia relatively low concentration. Hexafluorophosphoric acid hexahydrate [40209-76-5] 6 P 31.5°C, also forms (66). This... 

Baits include mixtures of toxicant, usually at l ndash 5%, with a carrier especially attractive to the insect pest. Carriers include sugar for the houseflies, protein hydrolysates for fmit flies, bran for grasshoppers, and honey, chocolate, or peanut butter for ants. 

D-Fmctose [57-48-7] (levulose, fmit sugar) is a monosaccharide constituting one-half of the sucrose molecule. It was first isolated from hydroly2ed cane sugar (iavert sugar) ia the late nineteenth century (1,2). Fmctose constitutes 4—8 wt % (dry sugar basis (dsb)) of many fmits, where it primarily occurs with glucose (dextrose) and sucrose (see Carbohydrates Sweeteners). It also makes up 50 wt % (dsb) of honey (3,4). 

Dextrose (D-glucose) is by far the most abundant sugar in nature. It occurs either in the monosaccharide form (free state) or in a polymeric form of anhydrodextrose units. As a monosaccharide, dextrose is present in substantial quantities in honey, fmits, and berries. As a polymer, dextrose occurs in starch, cellulose (qv), and glycogen. Sucrose is a disaccharide of dextrose and fmctose. 

In nature, fmctose (levulose, fmit sugar) is the main sugar in many fmits and vegetables. Honey contains ca 50 wt % fmctose on a dry basis. Sucrose is composed of one unit each of fmctose and dextrose combined to form the disaccharide. Fmctose exists in polymeric form as inulin in plants such as Jemsalem artichokes, chicory, dahlias, and dandeHons, and is Hberated by treatment with acid or enzyme. 

Grape and apple juices usually contain all of the trace nutrients required by Saccharomjces for fermentation of sugars to alcohol. Other fmit and diluted honey, as well as barley malt and rice extract, frequendy need additions of nitrogen, phosphoms, and potassium compounds, together with some autolyzed yeast to faciUtate the yeast growth necessary for fermentation. Stimulation oiy4.cetobacter frequendy requires the addition of autolyzed... 

Eor practical purposes, the sapwood of all species may be considered to be susceptible to biodeterioration. The heartwood of some species, however, contains toxic extractives that protect it against biological attack. Among the native species that have decay-resistant or highly decay-resistant heartwood are bald cypress, redwood, cedars, white oak, black locust, and black walnut (60). Douglas-fir, several of the pines, the larches, and honey locust... 

Sweet chocolate can contain milk or milk soHds (up to 12% max), nuts, coffee, honey, malt, salt, vanillin, and other spices and flavors as well as a number of specified emulsifiers. Many different kiads of chocolate can be produced by careful selection of bean blends, controlled roasting temperatures, and varying amounts of ingredients and flavors (20). 

The Discovery of Honey -----------------Piero di Cosimo (1462). (Courtesy of the Vlorccster Art Museum)... 

Sugar in the gourd and honey in the horn, I never was so happy since the hour I was born. 

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