Efficacité de l'analyse mélitopalynologique quantitative pour la certification des origines géographique et botanique des miels: le modèle des miels corses

Abstract

A new method to process pollen data derived from honey has been developed. During a three-year study 112 honey samples were collected and representatives of the different region of the island have thus been analysed. Presentation of the results in diagrams appeared to be more precise and more easily readible than the usual tables of frequency classes. This also facilitates comparisons between samples and enables a direct analysis of the relative frequency distributions of the taxa studied. However, apart from the graphic presentation, the main methodological advantage of the Melisoft software is the automatic comparison of the pollen content of the honeys. It permits without referring to any previous classification, to characterize honeys on the basis of their relative pollen-frequency spectra and taking into account the presence/absence parameter. The method is a variance analysis with a sorting function which enables one to compare and place each sample with respect to the 111 other samples while incorporating the totality of the taxa database. The classification obtained is valuable; it shows that pollen analysis in the determination of the botanical origin of honeys is not only of accessory but also of fundamental importance. The following honeys could thus be characterized: chestnut (Castanea sativa) honeys, more complex and composite maquis honeys with dominant tree heath (Erica arborea), honeys from plains or coastal Cistus areas, sour orange (Citrus aurantium x deliciosa) honeys, strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) and asphodel (Asphodelus microcarpus) honeys. The interest and limitations of the method are discussed, taking into account the "secondary and tertiary enrichments" in pollen of plants with no nectary as well as the over- or under-representation in honeys of pollen from the main nectariferous flowers. The presence of "indicators" such as Anthyllis hermanniae and Cytinus hypocistis as well as assemblages of biogeographically different taxa shows that it is possible to certify the Corsican origin of honeys. This method of treating pollen analytical data can also be applied to characterize botanical and geographical origins of honeys of other regions or countries. © 1992.