Physicochemical characterization of unique unifloral honey: Euphorbia resinifera

Abstract

© 2017 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. The physicochemical characteristics of Euphorbia resinifera honey were studied. Considering the low water content, the majority of the honeys presented a proper maturity. The values of acidity revealed the absence of inappropriate fermentation, while the low values of hydroxymethylfurfural (0.4–16.48 mg/kg) were suitable for of unprocessed honeys. The average values for electrical conductivity and ashes were 451 µS/cm and 1.6 g/kg, respectively. As for the mineral content, the K was the most abundant element; Ca, Na, Mg, P, S, and Si are all present in differing quantities in the honeys. On the other hand, Principal Components Analysis (PCA) and Stepwise Discriminant Analysis (SDA) were applied to distinguish between three related Euphorbia honey types. PCA showed that the cumulative variance of the two first factors explained approximately 53%. The results of SDA showed that variables with a higher discriminant power were K, C*ab and a*, and 100% of the samples were properly classified in their corresponding class.