Ricerc@Sapienza

Common hazelnuts are widely present in human diet all over the world, and their beneficial effects on the health have been extensively investigated and demonstrated. Different in-depth researches have highlighted that the harvesting area can define small variations in the chemical composition of the fruits, affecting their quality. As a consequence, it has become relevant to develop methodologies which would allow authenticating and tracing hazelnuts.

The South African honey industry will benefit from a reliable method that can verify authenticity as well as detect fraudulence of honey that is on the market. This work presents the use of near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy in combination with chemometrics as a fast and relatively inexpensive method to discriminate between authentic South African and imported and/or adulterated honey.