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Assessing Honey Quality: A Focus on Some Physicochemical Parameters of Honey from Iasi County (Romania)

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dc.contributor.author Albu, Aida
dc.contributor.author Bora, Florin-Dumitru
dc.contributor.author Cucu-Man, Simona-Maria
dc.contributor.author Stoleru, Vasile
dc.contributor.author Nistor, Cătălin-Emilian
dc.contributor.author Brumă, Ioan-Sebastian
dc.contributor.author Rusu, Oana-Raluca
dc.date.accessioned 2025-10-17T15:55:52Z
dc.date.available 2025-10-17T15:55:52Z
dc.date.issued 2025-02-03
dc.identifier.citation Albu, Aida, Florin Dumitru Bora, Simona-Maria Cucu-Man, Vasile Stoleru, Cătălin-Emilian Nistor, Ioan Sebastian Brumă, and Oana-Raluca Rusu. 2025. "Assessing Honey Quality: A Focus on Some Physicochemical Parameters of Honey from Iasi County (Romania)" Agriculture 15, no. 3: 333. https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15030333 en_US
dc.identifier.uri https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0472/15/3/333
dc.identifier.uri https://repository.iuls.ro/xmlui/handle/20.500.12811/5775
dc.description.abstract The study of honey in Iasi County reveals its ecological, economic and health importance, emphasizing its unique properties, role in biodiversity and value in promoting sustainable beekeeping and regional identity. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics of honey from Iasi County, Romania, analyzing 27 samples collected in 2020 and 2021. The samples include tilia (8 raw, 7 commercial), acacia (2 raw, 2 commercial), rapeseed (3 raw), sunflower (3 raw) and lavender (2 raw) honey. Analyses were carried out under Romanian/EU standards, assessing parameters such as color, electrical conductivity, moisture, total soluble solids (TSS), acidity (free, lactone, total), pH, hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), ash and mineral composition (Na, K, Ca, Mg, Cu, Zn, Mn and Fe). The results revealed significant differences between raw and commercial honeys. Notably, in commercial tilia honey, higher values were found for color (38.58 mm Pfund vs. 24.14 mm Pfund), total acidity (25.93 meq·kg−1 vs. 17.36 meq·kg−1) and HMF levels (8.84 mg·kg−1 vs. 3.68 mg·kg−1). Conversely, water-insoluble solids (0.08% vs. 0.15%) and ash content (0.21% vs. 0.30%) were lower in commercial samples. Potassium was the most abundant mineral detected, while copper and zinc levels were the lowest. Significant correlations were observed between several parameters, including ash with electrical conductivity and HMF with acidity. This study underscores the impact of processing on honey quality and highlights the importance of understanding honey composition for consumers and producers alike. en_US
dc.language.iso en en_US
dc.publisher MDPI en_US
dc.rights CC BY 4.0
dc.rights.uri https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
dc.subject honey en_US
dc.subject physicochemical parameters en_US
dc.subject HMF en_US
dc.subject minerals en_US
dc.subject raw en_US
dc.subject commercial en_US
dc.subject quality en_US
dc.title Assessing Honey Quality: A Focus on Some Physicochemical Parameters of Honey from Iasi County (Romania) en_US
dc.type Article en_US
dc.author.affiliation Aida Albu, Cătălin-Emilian Nistor, Department of Control, Expertise and Services, Faculty of Food and Animal Sciences, “Ion Ionescu de la Brad” University of Life Sciences, 8 Mihail Sadoveanu Alley, 700489 Iasi, Romania
dc.author.affiliation Florin Dumitru Bora, Viticulture and Oenology Department, Advanced Horticultural Research Institute of Transylvania, Faculty of Horticulture and Business in Rural Development, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca, 3-5 Mănăs,tur Street, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
dc.author.affiliation Florin Dumitru Bora, Laboratory of Chromatography, Advanced Horticultural Research Institute of Transylvania, Faculty of Horticulture and Business for Rural Development, University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine, 3-5 Mănăs,tur Street, 400372 Cluj-Napoca, Romania
dc.author.affiliation Simona-Maria Cucu-Man, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University of Iasi, 11 Carol I Blvd, 700506 Iasi, Romania
dc.author.affiliation Vasile Stoleru, Department of Horticulture Technologies, Faculty of Horticulture, “Ion Ionescu de la Brad” University of Life Sciences, 3 Mihail Sadoveanu Alley, 700490 Iasi, Romania
dc.author.affiliation Ioan Sebastian Brumă, Romanian Academy, Iasi Branch, “Gh. Zane” Institute for Economic and Social Research, 2 Codrescu Street, 700481 Iasi, Romania;
dc.author.affiliation Oana-Raluca Rusu, Department of Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, “Ion Ionescu de la Brad” University of Life Sciences, 8 Mihail Sadoveanu Alley, 700449 Iasi, Romania
dc.publicationName Agriculture
dc.volume 15
dc.issue 3
dc.publicationDate 2025
dc.identifier.eissn 2077-0472
dc.identifier.doi https://doi.org/10.3390/agriculture15030333


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CC BY 4.0 Except where otherwise noted, this item's license is described as CC BY 4.0