Conti Marcelo Enrique, Finoia Maria Grazia, Fontana Luca, Mele Giustino, Botrè Francesco, Iavicoli Ivo
Department of Management, University of Rome, Sapienza, Via del Castro Laurenziano 9, Rome 00161, Italy.
Italian National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research, Viale V. Brancati 60, Rome 00166, Italy.
Chem Cent J. 2014 Jul 2;8:44. doi: 10.1186/1752-153X-8-44. eCollection 2014.
The levels of 19 elements (As, Be, Ca, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, Pb, Se, Tl, U, V, Zn) from sixteen different Argentine production sites of unifloral [eucalyptus (Eucaliptus rostrata), chilca (Baccharis salicifolia), Algarrobo (Prosopis sp.), mistol (Ziziphus mistol) and citric] and multifloral honeys were measured with the aim to test the quality of the selected samples. Typical quality parameters of honeys were also determined (pH, sugar content, moisture). Mineral elements were determined by using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (ICP-MS DRC). We also evaluated the suitability of honey as a possible biomonitor of environmental pollution. Thus, the sites were classified through cluster analysis (CA) and then pattern recognition methods such as Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and discriminant analysis (DA) were applied.
MEAN VALUES FOR QUALITY PARAMETERS WERE: pH, 4.12 and 3.81; sugar 82.1 and 82.0 °brix; moisture, 16.90 and 17.00% for unifloral and multifloral honeys respectively. The water content showed good maturity. Likewise, the other parameters confirmed the good quality of the honeys analysed. Potassium was quantitatively the most abundant metal, accounting for 92,5% of the total metal contents with an average concentration of 832.0 and 816.2 μg g(-1) for unifloral and multifloral honeys respectively. Sodium was the second most abundant major metal in honeys with a mean value of 32.16 and 33.19 μg g(-1) for unifloral and multifloral honeys respectively. Mg, Ca, Fe, Mn, Zn and Cu were present at low-intermediate concentrations. For the other 11 trace elements determined in this study (As, Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Ni, Pb, Se, Tl, U and V), the mean concentrations were very low or below of the LODs. The sites were classified through CA by using elements' and physicochemical parameters data, then DA on the PCA factors was applied. Dendrograms identified three main groups. PCA explained 52.03% of the total variability with the first two factors.
In general, there are no evidences of pollution for the analysed honeys. The analytical results obtained for the Argentine honeys indicate the products' high quality. In fact, most of the toxic elements were below LODs. The chemometric analysis combining CA, DA and PCA showed their aptness as useful tools for honey's classification. Eventually, this study confirms that the use of honey as biomonitor of environmental contamination is not reliable for sites with low levels of contamination.
测定了来自阿根廷16个不同产地的单花蜂蜜（桉属蜂蜜、巴卡里斯蜂蜜、牧豆树蜂蜜、枣椰蜂蜜和柑橘蜂蜜）和多花蜂蜜中19种元素（砷、铍、钙、镉、钴、铬、铜、铁、钾、镁、锰、钠、镍、铅、硒、铊、铀、钒、锌）的含量，旨在检测所选样品的质量。还测定了蜂蜜的典型质量参数（pH值、糖分含量、水分）。使用电感耦合等离子体质谱仪（ICP-MS DRC）测定矿物元素。我们还评估了蜂蜜作为环境污染生物监测指标的适用性。因此，通过聚类分析（CA）对产地进行分类，然后应用主成分分析（PCA）和判别分析（DA）等模式识别方法。
质量参数的平均值为：单花蜂蜜和多花蜂蜜的pH值分别为4.12和3.81；糖分分别为82.1和82.0°Bx；水分分别为16.90%和17.00%。水分含量表明蜂蜜成熟度良好。同样，其他参数也证实了所分析蜂蜜的质量良好。钾是含量最丰富的金属，单花蜂蜜和多花蜂蜜中钾的平均浓度分别为832.0和816.2μg g⁻¹，占总金属含量的92.5%。钠是蜂蜜中含量第二丰富的主要金属，单花蜂蜜和多花蜂蜜中的平均值分别为32.16和33.19μg g⁻¹。镁、钙、铁、锰、锌和铜的含量处于低至中等水平。对于本研究中测定的其他11种微量元素（砷、铍、镉、钴、铬、镍、铅、硒、铊、铀和钒），平均浓度非常低或低于检测限。通过使用元素和理化参数数据，通过聚类分析对产地进行分类，然后对主成分分析因子进行判别分析。树形图确定了三个主要组。主成分分析的前两个因子解释了总变异的52.03%。
总体而言，所分析的蜂蜜没有污染迹象。阿根廷蜂蜜的分析结果表明这些产品质量很高。事实上，大多数有毒元素低于检测限。结合聚类分析、判别分析和主成分分析的化学计量分析表明，它们适合作为蜂蜜分类的有用工具。最终，本研究证实，对于污染水平较低的产地，使用蜂蜜作为环境污染生物监测指标并不可靠。
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