Impedance spectroscopy for rapid determination of honey floral origin

In this work electrical impedance spectroscopy was applied as an alternative method for floral origin determination of unifloral honeys, which may supplement the labeling according to the European Legislation. Impedance measurements, in agreement with data from routine analyses, allowed to distinguish the unifloral honey samples and to acquire information on chemical and physical properties, such as conductivity, ash content and acidity. Equivalent electrical circuits have been extracted for each unifloral honey sample, which have been validated by means of electrical simulation, and every electrical component has been associated to a specific honey characteristic. It can be concluded that the method developed here permits rapid and easy determination of honey floral origin, no sample preparation procedure is required and it could be used in the official control laboratories.