Biogenic amines and stable isotopes in the quality and authenticity of honeys from Brazil

Giuseppina Pace Pereira Lima; Vladmir Eliodoro Costa; Aline Nunes; Leticia Silva Pereira Basílio; Cristine Vanz Borges; Gean Charles Monteiro; Igor Otavio Minatel; Juliana Celia Denadai; Ricardo Orsi; Fabio Vianello; Marcelo Maraschin

doi:10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.136702

Biogenic amines and stable isotopes in the quality and authenticity of honeys from Brazil

Food Chem. 2023 Nov 30:427:136702. doi: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.136702. Epub 2023 Jun 23.

Affiliations

¹ São Paulo State University, Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences, Institute of Biosciences, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil. Electronic address: pace.lima@unesp.br.
² São Paulo State University, Stable Isotopes Center, Institute of Biosciences, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil.
³ Federal University of Santa Catarina, Plant Morphogenesis and Biochemistry Laboratory, Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
⁴ São Paulo State University, Department of Chemical and Biological Sciences, Institute of Biosciences, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁵ Health Sciences, Universidade Alto Vale do Rio do Peixe (UNIARP), Caçador, Santa Catarina, Brazil.
⁶ São Paulo State University, Center of Education, Science and Technology in Rational Beekeeping (NECTAR), College of Veterinary Medicine and Animal Sciences, Botucatu, São Paulo, Brazil.
⁷ University of Padua, Department of Comparative Biomedicine and Food Science, Legnaro, Italy.

PMID: 37393636
DOI: 10.1016/j.foodchem.2023.136702

Abstract

The identification of biogenic amines and some precursor amino acids and the adulteration through stable isotopes was carried out in 114 honey from different geographic regions in Brazil (states of São Paulo (SP) and Santa Catarina (SC)) as support for evaluating quality control and food safety. Serotonin was detected in all samples, while melatonin was quantified in 92.2% of honey from SP and in 94% of SC. l-Dopa, dopamine and histamine appeared at higher levels in honey from SP. Cadaverine, putrescine, spermidine and spermine, varied little according to botanical source. Three honey from the metropolitan region of SP were considered adulterated (C4_SUGARS > 7%), 92 were authentic samples (C4_SUGARS - 7 to 7%) and 19 unadulterated (C4_SUGARS less than - 7%), with isotopic values of δ¹³C_H and δ¹³C_P > 7%. The data were important for differentiating quality as a function of biogenic amines and stable isotope technique was important in detecting honey adulteration.

Keywords: Food Adulteration; Food Security; Geographical Origins; l-Tryptophan.

MeSH terms

Biogenic Amines
Brazil
Carbon Isotopes / analysis
Honey*
Sugars

Substances

Biogenic Amines
Carbon Isotopes
Sugars