Detection of rice syrup from acacia honey based on lubrication properties measured by tribology technique

Acacia honey and rice syrup's lubrication properties in liquid and crystalline states were tested under rubber friction pairs mimicking oral environment. The results indicated that liquid acacia honey was in elastohydrodynamic lubrication and rice syrup in boundary lubrication. Liquid acacia honey's lubrication state changes into boundary lubrication if adulterated by rice syrup. And the changed friction coefficient is easy to be measured by the tribometer. For crystalline state, even both of them are in boundary lubrication, differences in friction coefficients are three orders of magnitude larger than the test resolution. Therefore, rice syrup can be identified from acacia honey either in liquid or crystalline state. Moreover, the detection mechanism was also interpreted from their wetting performances, microstructures and morphology.