Kasiotis Konstantinos M, Baira Eirini, Iosifidou Styliani, Bergele Kyriaki, Manea-Karga Electra, Theologidis Ioannis, Barmpouni Theodora, Tsipi Despina, Machera Kyriaki
Laboratory of Pesticides' Toxicology, Benaki Phytopathological Institute, Athens, Greece.
General Chemical State Laboratory, Independent Public Revenue Authority (A.A.D.E), Athens, Greece.
Front Chem. 2022 Jul 22;10:924881. doi: 10.3389/fchem.2022.924881. eCollection 2022.
Honey represents a valuable food commodity, known since ancient times for its delicate taste and health benefits due to its specific compositional characteristics, mainly the phenolic compound content. "Anama" honey is a monofloral honey produced from the nectar of plant, a heather bush of the Greek island of Ikaria, one of the Mediterranean's longevity regions. "Anama" is characterized by a unique aroma and taste, with a growing demand for consumption and the potential to be included in the list of products with a protected designation of origin. The aim of this study was to determine the chemical and botanical profile of authentic Anama honey samples and find similarities and differences with honey samples of a different botanical origin from the same geographical area. Untargeted Ultrahigh-Performance Liquid Chromatography-Hybrid Quadrupole-Orbitrap High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry (UHPLC-HRMS) metabolomics study was conducted on authentic heather, pine, and thyme honey samples from Ikaria and neighboring islands. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA), Orthogonal Projections to Latent Structures Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA), and differential analysis were performed using the entire metabolic profile of the samples and allowed the identification of chemical markers for sample discrimination. Thirty-two characteristic secondary metabolites (cinnamic acids, phenolic acids, flavonoids, terpenes) and other bioactive phenolic compounds, some of them not previously reported in a heather honey (aucubin, catalpol, domesticoside, leonuriside A, picein among others), emerged as potential chemical indicators of Anama honey. Melissopalynological analysis was also carried out to decipher the botanical and geographical origin of Anama honey. The relative frequency of the pollen of dominant plants of the Ericaceae family and a multitude of nectariferous and nectarless plants contributing to the botanical profile of Anama was evaluated. The identification of the pollen sources enabled a potential correlation of differentially increased secondary metabolites and chemicals with their botanical origin. The physicochemical profile of Anama was also determined, including the parameters of pH, color, electrical conductivity, diastase, moisture, as well as sugars, supporting the high quality of this heather honey.
蜂蜜是一种珍贵的食品，自古以来就因其细腻的口感以及特定成分特性（主要是酚类化合物含量）带来的健康益处而闻名。“阿纳马”蜂蜜是一种单一花源蜂蜜，由希腊伊卡里亚岛（地中海地区的长寿地区之一）的一种石南属植物的花蜜制成。“阿纳马”蜂蜜具有独特的香气和味道，其消费需求不断增长，并且有潜力被列入受原产地保护的产品名单。本研究的目的是确定正宗“阿纳马”蜂蜜样本的化学和植物特征，并找出与同一地理区域不同植物来源的蜂蜜样本之间的异同。对来自伊卡里亚岛和邻近岛屿的正宗石南、松树和百里香蜂蜜样本进行了非靶向超高效液相色谱 - 混合四极杆 - 轨道阱高分辨率质谱（UHPLC - HRMS）代谢组学研究。使用样本的整个代谢谱进行主成分分析（PCA）、正交投影到潜在结构判别分析（OPLS - DA）和差异分析，从而鉴定出用于样本鉴别的化学标志物。32种特征性次生代谢产物（肉桂酸、酚酸、黄酮类化合物、萜类化合物）和其他生物活性酚类化合物，其中一些此前未在石南蜂蜜中报道过（如桃叶珊瑚苷、梓醇、洋地黄苷、益母草苷A、松柏苷等），成为“阿纳马”蜂蜜潜在的化学指标。还进行了蜂蜜孢粉学分析，以解读“阿纳马”蜂蜜的植物和地理来源。评估了杜鹃花科优势植物花粉的相对频率以及众多有蜜和无蜜植物对“阿纳马”蜂蜜植物特征的贡献。花粉来源的鉴定使得差异增加的次生代谢产物和化学物质与其植物来源之间建立了潜在的关联。还测定了“阿纳马”蜂蜜的理化特征，包括pH值、颜色、电导率、淀粉酶、水分以及糖分等参数，证明了这种石南蜂蜜的高品质。
