Unlocking Phacelia tanacetifolia Benth. honey characterization through melissopalynological analysis, color determination and volatiles chemical profiling

Kuś, Piotr M.;Jerković, Igor;Marijanović, Zvonimir;Kranjac, Marina;Tuberoso, Carlo I. G.

Ultimo

2018-01-01

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Abstract

Phacelia tanacetifolia Benth. honey (14 samples) collected in Poland was characterized by melissopalynological analysis, color determination (CIE L*a*b*Cab*hab° coordinates) and volatiles (VOCs) composition. VOCs were isolated by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME, two fibers) and ultrasound-assisted solvent extraction (USE, two solvents) and analyzed by GC–MS. Principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical-tree clustering (HTC) were applied to show trends and form groups and to indicate the most representative unifloral samples. Six samples were pointed out with average pollen 74.9% and color parameters (L = 85.1; a* = − 0.8; b* = 27.9; Cab* = 27.9; hab* = 91.9) that were significantly correlated. High abundance of trans-linalool oxide (27.3–45.9%) that was significantly correlated with the pollen percentages, hexan-1-ol (4.4–5.7%) and lavender lactone (0.8% - 1.5%) were characteristic for their headspace. C13-norisoprenoids, mainly (E)-/(Z)-3-oxo-retro-α-ionol (4.7–5.4%; 6.9–9.4%) and vomifoliol (9.0–13.0%) dominated in their USE extracts.