Characterization of Hatay honeys according to their multi-element analysis using ICP-OES combined with chemometrics

Chemical characterisation has been carried out on 45 honey samples collected from Hatay region of Turkey. The concentrations of 17 elements were determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). Ca, K, Mg and Na were the most abundant elements, with mean contents of 219.38, 446.93, 49.06 and 95.91 mg kg−1 respectively. The trace element mean contents ranged between 0.03 and 15.07 mg kg−1. Chemometric methods such as principal component analysis (PCA) and cluster analysis (CA) techniques were applied to classify honey according to mineral content. The first most important principal component (PC) was strongly associated with the value of Al, B, Cd and Co. CA showed eight clusters corresponding to the eight botanical origins of honey. PCA explained 75.69% of the variance with the first six PC variables. Chemometric analysis of the analytical data allowed the accurate classification of the honey samples according to origin.

► A systematic investigation of 45 honey samples collected from Hatay was performed.
► The levels of 17 elements were determined using ICP-OES.
► Principal component analysis and cluster analysis were used to classify honeys.
► The honeys from industrialized regions showed high levels of Cu, Pb, Co and Cr.