Sugar Components and Determination in Honey: Quality Control and Analysis Methods

What are the Sugar Components in Honey? What Does It Mean?

What are the Sugar Components in Honey?

Honey is a natural sweetener and is largely composed of sugars. The most important sugar components are glucose and fructose. Honey may also contain sucrose (table sugar) and small amounts of other types of sugar. These sugars in honey indicate its level of sweetness, viscosity and tendency to crystallize.

The average composition of honey includes

• Fructose: 30-40
• Glucose: 25-35
• Sucrose: 1-5
• Maltose and other sugars: %3-5

Why Determination of Sugar Constituents in Honey?

Determination of sugar components in honey is one of the important test parameters that can be informed about the final state of honey before it reaches the consumer. The reasons for performing this analysis can be listed as follows:

1. Quality Control: The ratio of sugar components is evaluated to determine the naturalness and quality of honey. Glucose and fructose content of natural honeys should be within certain ranges. Abnormal sugar ratios can be a sign of counterfeiting or spoilage.
2. Detection of Counterfeiting and Imitation: If artificial sweeteners such as corn syrup have been added to honey, the determination of sugar components helps to detect this. In particular, some honeys on the market may have added substances such as sucrose or fructose-glucose syrup.
3. Nutritional Value and Health: The sugar components of honey are important for health and nutrition. High fructose content can raise blood sugar levels more quickly. Therefore, it is important for consumers to analyze honey correctly.
4. Compliance with Standards: According to national and international standards, legislation and legal regulations, honey production and trade are regulated with specific sugar component ratios. Sugar components are analyzed to check whether honey complies with legal regulations.

What are the Methods of Determination of Sugar Components in Honey?

The amounts of glucose, fructose and sucrose can each be determined separately by enzymatic, titrimetric methods. In the determination of sucrose, sucrose is converted into invert sugar by inversion. The amount of sucrose is determined by multiplying the total amount of sugar obtained after inversion by a factor of 0.95.

The most common method used in the determination of invert sugar (glucose + fructose) in honey is the Lane - Eynon method. The method is based on the reduction of Cu-2 (Copper II) oxide in the fehling solution of invert sugar to Cu-1 (Copper I) oxide, which is insoluble in water.

Nano-lab Laboratories Group continues to provide services within the scope of Determination of Sugar Components in Honey . We also provide services in Counterfeit and Adulteration Analysis.

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