Nectar honey

The quality of honey (nectar and honeydew) is determined by its sensorial, physical, and chemical properties. The last two are evaluated using standard parameters established by the Codex Alimentarius (2001) and... 

Honig-harnruhr, f. diabetes mellitus. -klee, m. sweet clover, melilot. -saft, m. nectar, -silure, /. Pharm.) oxymel mellitic acid, -acheibe, /. honeycomb, -aeim, m. liquid honey. -stein, m. honeystone, mellite. -steinsilure, /. mellitic acid, honigsliss, a. honey-sweet. 

Volatile and semivolatile compounds are present in honeys and are attributed to aroma qualities. Aroma compoimds can indicate floral and geographical origins and processing treatments. Aroma compounds come from nectar or honeydew. Aroma components can be also formed during fhermal processing and sforage (Bonvehi and Coll, 2003 Soria et ah, 2003). More than 400 components have been detected in the volatile flavor fraction of honey... 

Pollen analysis in combination with other techniques is still an effective tool for the authentication of the botanical origin of honey (Persano Oddo et ah, 1995 Von der Ohe et ah, 2004). It can distinguish polyfloral and different types of unifloral honeys (Mateo and Bosch-Reig, 1998). It can also indicate the percentages of different nectar contributions in honey products. A polymerase chain reaction technique and an... 

The flavanone hesperetin has been detected in citrus honeys but not in honey samples of any other origins (Ferreres et al., 1993). It is a constitutive phenolic compound of citrus nectar, where it is present as a glycoside (hesperidin). 

Coffey, M. F. and Breen, J. (1997). Seasonal variation in pollen and nectar sources of honey bees in Ireland. J. Apicult. Res. 36, 63-76. 

Ferreres, F., Andrade, P., and Tomas-Barberan, F. A. (1996a). Natural occurrence of abscisic acid in heather honey and floral nectar. /. Agric. Food Chem. 44, 2053-2056. 

Low, N. H., Brisbane, T., Bigam, G., and Spoms, P. (1988). Carbohydrate analysis of western Canadian honeys and their nectar sources to determine the origin of honey oligosaccharides. /. Agric. Food Chem. 36, 953-957. 

The Codex Alimentarius Commission, in its Draft Provisional Standard34 (following definition and description, and subsidiary definitions and designations) has laid down certain compositional criteria. It is obvious that all definitions of honey so far discussed deal with two chemically and physically distinct commodities namely, nectar honey and honeydew honey. A comparison between the two shows that honeydew honey is lower in D-fructose and D-glucose and higher in pH, oligosaccharides, acidic components, ash, and nitrogen than nectar honey. 

As regards the occurrence of /3-D-linked disaccharides in the absence of a /3-D-linked substrate, one is tempted to conclude that these oligosaccharides are synthesized by the enzymic reversion of D-glucose by a /3-D-glucosidase. As White and Maher100 have found that their honey-invertase preparation had no /3-D-glucosidase activity, it would appear that these sugars are carried into the hive as constituents of nectar. 

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