Quantitation of adulterated honey by three-dimensional fluorescence

Abstract Honey products adulterated with syrup need to be availably distinguished from the true ones and quantified by modern method, for instance three-dimensional fluorescence spectroscopy. The spectra from eight types of honey showed that a linear relationship existed between fluorescence intensity and honey solution concentration in two excitation wavelength ranges of 240–320 nm and 320–360 nm when honey was diluted to 1 % (V:V) or less. Based on the linearity, a way was proposed to estimate the purity of adulterated honey by employing the least squares model to compare the spectra of adulterated honey with honey and syrup on a computer, after they were properly diluted. Honey artificially mixed with syrup in a ratio of 3:7 (V:V) was evaluate to be 31.6 % and the error was only 1.6 %. The method of quantitation on adulterated honey has the characteristics of convenience and accuracy.