Abstract:
Romania is known among the main European honey producers, due to the variety of
landforms as well as the diversity of the flora. Thirty-four honey samples of the acacia, linden
and multifloral types, produced in eastern Romania and collected during 2013–2018, were physico chemically analyzed using methods provided by the national and EU standards. The results of
water-insoluble solids, color and refractive index were found to be 0.023–0.131%, 0.3–76.4 mm
Pfund and 1.485–1.499, respectively. The moisture content ranged between 15.20% and 20.77%,
solid substances content ranged between 79.23% and 84.80% and total soluble substances content
ranged between 77.83 ◦Brix and 83.26 ◦Brix. The obtained values of specific gravity were from
1.414 to 1.450 g/cm3
, pH ranged from 3.673 to 5.503 and free acidity ranged between 2.4 meq and
50 meq kg−1
. The ash content and the electrical conductivity varied between 0.030 and 0.543% and
130 and 679 µS cm−1
, respectively. Pearson0
s correlation analysis showed an intense association of
the ash content with electrical conductivity (r = 0.81). Our findings reveal the qualitative level of
Romanian honey and the variation in quality parameters due to factors such as geographical region,
climatic conditions, botanical origin and handling or storage conditions.
