Volatile compounds of Argentinean honeys: Correlation with floral and geographical origin

Abstract

The determination of the botanical/geographical origin of honey provides assurance of the product's quality. In the present work, honeys from different ecoregions of Argentina were analysed, and the possible link between the complete pollen profile of honey samples and their volatile composition was evaluated by multivariate statistical tools. A total of 110 volatile compounds were found and semiquantified in honey samples. Redundancy analysis showed significant correlations between the volatile profile of honeys and their production region (P =.0002). According to the present results, 3,8-p-menthatriene; cyclopropylidenemethylbenzene; 1,1,6-trimethyl-1,2-dihydronaphthalene; 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene; α-pinene; isopropyl 2-methylbutanoate; cymene; 2,6-dimethyl-1,6-octadiene; 3-methyloctane; 1-(1,4-dimethyl-3-cyclohexen-1-yl)ethanone; terpinolene; ethyl 2-phenylacetate; naphthalene and 7 unknown compounds could be used to classify Argentinean honeys according to their geographical origin with a prediction success of 96%. Moreover, it could be concluded that honeys with Eucalyptus sp., Aristotelia chilensis and T. Baccharis pollen types presented some characteristic volatile compounds which could be used as floral markers.