Quality screening of lime honey from different regions of Ukraine

Abstract

Goal. To describe the physicochemical and organoleptic properties of lime honey from different regions of Ukraine, and to establish its compliance with quality standards. Methods. The quality of honey was investigated in accordance with DSTU 4497:2005 «Natural honey. Specifications». Results. Preliminary screening of 143 samples of lime honey from different regions of Ukraine was performed. It is established that its quality indicators correspond to the highest grade honey, except for the value of the mass fraction of water and sucrose. Lime honey of the Southern region according to the content of mass fraction of water, and lime honey of the Northern region according to the amount of sucrose, correspond to honey of the I grade. Conclusions. The analysis of long-term researches of honey from different regions of Ukraine testifies that lime honey of domestic producers has high indicators of quality and naturalness. It is proved that its quality indicators meet the requirements of the national standard DSTU 4497:2005 «Natural honey. Technical conditions» and existing EU requirements. It was found that the highest rate of diastasis was in lime honey from the Southern region (mean value 34.0±1.1 Goethe units). It was found that the maximum content of mass fraction of sucrose (3.7%) had the lime honey of the Northern region of Ukraine and therefore meets the requirements of the national standard DSTU 4497:2005 «Natural honey. Technical conditions» of honey of the I grade.