‘Remarkable’ Variations Observed in Composition of Honey Volatiles

Composition of Volatile Compounds of Honey of Various Floral Origin and Beebread Collected in Lithuania
Food Chemistry, Volume 111, Issue 4, 15 December 2008, Pages 988-997

Abstract: Honey is collected from various flowering plants and its composition, particularly volatile flavour compounds to some extent depends on the nectar source. Therefore, some volatile constituents may be indicators of honey origin.

In this study the volatile profiles of 15 honey samples of different botanical origin and one beebread sample are characterised…

In total 93 compounds in honey and 32 in beebread were identified. They involve different classes of chemical compounds, including alcohols, ketones, aldehydes, acids, terpenes, hydrocarbons, benzene, and furan derivatives…

Remarkable variations were observed in the composition of volatiles in honey from different sources. In addition, volatile profiles of honey samples were analysed after 3 months of storage and it was found that the amount of headspace volatiles in the majority of samples decreased.