Abstract:

This study explored the feasibility of applying Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) to identify adulteration in five honey samples from Qinghai and neighboring regions. Adulterated samples with adulteration levels (syrup mass/honey mass) ranging from 0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.15, $\cdots $, to 0.95 were prepared using fructose-glucose syrup or maltose syrup as adulterants. DSC curves were generated to analyze the relationship between DSC signals and temperature. SPSSPRO software was used for modeling, employing a stepwise regression method to establish models for the glass transition onset (T_g0) and midpoint (T_gm). Significance analysis revealed the following: for nitraria honey adulterated with fructose-glucose syrup, the significance level exceeded 0.05. When adulterated with maltose syrup, the T_gm during the cooling phase showed a significance level > 0.05. For goji berry honey adulterated with fructose-glucose syrup, T_gm in the cooling phase was also a key parameter. For other samples, T_g0 and T_gm during the heating phase demonstrated strong significance. These results indicate that combining DSC data with modeling methods is efficient and accurate for honey adulteration identification. However, no consistent patterns were observed among different honey types.

Key words: identification of honey adulteration, Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), fructose syrup, maltose syrup