New method to indentify fake honey

Do you know what is the world’s most imitated food? Well, if you guessed bee honey you are right. There are many different ways to make “fake” honey. Most often syrups made from sugar cane, rice and corn are added to make a fake honey but to detect faked honey is not that easy. You need to follow specific procedures, but there is a good news.A method developed by scientists from the Plant Production Research Institute and Charles University just made things easier. This process will be mainly used by the relevant state administration and laboratories.

The new procedure

The basis of the procedure is a process developed by scientists led by Mr. T. Erban, Ph.D. and it identifies various types of proteins found in honey. Various substances are used by the food industry, but they are not natural. A regular consumer cannot recognize the difference and neither the existing methods. But the new procedure can do it.

Photo: Pixabay

A unique bee protein

The product of bee colonies – honey, is made from purely natural resources. Bees use specific secretions that contain proteins and their proteome is unique. Thanks to this honey offers excellent properties and a positive health benefits.

Bee amylases

Bee amylases are the most important proteins. If these enzymes are active, it is a sign that honey is of high quality and fresh. If the amylase activity is very low it is very likely that you have a “fake” honey, which should not be sold in stores. Fraudsters artificially increase amylase activity by adding foreign substances. Artificial boosters include for example, the extract from Aspergillus niger fungus or from Bacillus amyloliquefactiens bacteria and Bacillus licheniformis.

New method identifies added amylases

It is a certified method called Methodology for the identification of foreign amylases in honey.The certified methodology is a part of the project of the National Agency for Agricultural Research (NAZV) No. QK1820088 (2018-2020) overseen by RNDr. Tomáš Erban Ph.D. of the Research Institute of Plant Production and Mgr. Karel Harant of the Faculty of Natural Sciences at the Charles University. It will be used by the State Agricultural and Food Inspection Authority or by the State Veterinary Administration.

Source: Výzkumný ústav rostlinné výroby, Protext ČTK

Preview photo: Pixabay