Physico-chemical methods for the characterisation of unifloral honeys: a review

The objective of this work is to review all known physico-chemical methods used for the determination of the botanical origin of honey. In earlier works special attention is ascribed to the classification power of different classification methods (Persano Oddo et al., 1995b, 2000; Anklam, 1998; Molan, 1998; Bogdanov and Martin, 2002). This review gives a critical evaluation of all physico-chemical methods, which have been used up to the present time for the classification of unifloral honeys. The review is divided into two parts. The first one provides a general survey of classical physico chemical methods. These methods are mostly validated and widely used in the routine control of honey. In the second part the utility of new methods for authentication of botanical origin is discussed. In most cases, these methods are not yet harmonised and validated for routine use. The principle of each new method is briefly discussed, without going into details, which can be found in the cited references.