Instituto de Telecomunicações, and Departamento de Engenharia Electrotécnica e de Computadores, Universidade de Coimbra, 3030-290 Coimbra, Portugal.
Centro de Eletrónica, Opto-Eletrónica e Telecomunicações, Universidade do Algarve, Campus Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal.
Food Chem. 2024 Sep 30;453:139605. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2024.139605. Epub 2024 May 19.
Minerals are reported to dominate the electrical properties of honey and indicate its botanical and geographical origins. In this study, Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) was used to assess the relation between mineral elements, electrical properties and botanical origin using three honey varieties - Citrus sp., Eucalyptus sp., and Erica sp. These varieties are identified through pollen analysis and market labelling. Flame atomic absorption and emission spectroscopies were used to quantify the concentrations of eight elements (potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, manganese, zinc, copper, and iron). Among all the mineral elements, potassium showed a consistent correlation with impedance. The potassium estimation in honey and standard solutions (calibration curve) had similar sensitivities of 153.43 nF/mM and 132.68 nF/mM, respectively. Additionally, the analysis revealed that potassium dominates the mineral composition, with the other species present in minimal quantities. The EIS technique showed high sensitivity to potassium and other ionisable species, making it possible to classify the botanical origin of these three honey types. The EIS technique proved to be both time and cost effective, yielding a classification rate higher than that achieved by analysing mineral composition.
矿物质被认为主导着蜂蜜的电学性质，并表明其植物学和地理起源。在这项研究中，使用电化学阻抗谱（EIS）来评估矿物元素、电性质和植物学起源之间的关系，使用了三种蜂蜜品种 - 柑橘属、桉树属和石楠属。这些品种通过花粉分析和市场标签进行识别。火焰原子吸收和发射光谱法用于定量八种元素（钾、钠、钙、镁、锰、锌、铜和铁）的浓度。在所有矿物质元素中，钾与阻抗表现出一致的相关性。蜂蜜和标准溶液中的钾估计（校准曲线）具有相似的灵敏度，分别为 153.43 nF/mM 和 132.68 nF/mM。此外，分析表明，钾主导着矿物质组成，其他物种的含量很少。EIS 技术对钾和其他可电离物质具有很高的灵敏度，使得对这三种蜂蜜类型的植物学起源进行分类成为可能。EIS 技术证明既省时又省钱，分类率高于分析矿物质组成所达到的分类率。
