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. 2024 Mar 29;13(7):1065.
doi: 10.3390/foods13071065.

Analysis of Free Amino Acid Composition and Honey Plant Species in Seven Honey Species in China

Jialin Yang  1   2 , Yihui Liu  3 , Zongyan Cui  4 , Taohong Wang  4 , Tong Liu  1   2 , Gang Liu  3
Affiliations

Analysis of Free Amino Acid Composition and Honey Plant Species in Seven Honey Species in China

Jialin Yang et al. Foods. .

Abstract

Honey is well-known as a food product that is rich in active ingredients and is very popular among consumers. Free amino acids (FAAs) are one of the important nutritional components of honey, which can be used not only as a nutritional indicator of honey but also as an indicator of plant source identification. In this study, the contents of 20 FAAs in seven types of honey from 11 provinces in China were examined for the first time. The 20 FAAs were analyzed by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry/mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). By analyzing 93 honey samples from seven types of honey, the FAAs were found to range from 394.4 mg/kg (linden honey) to 1771.7 mg/kg (chaste honey). Proline ranged from 274.55 to 572.48 mg/kg, and methionine was only present in some of the linden honey, chaste honey, acacia honey, and rape honey. Evaluated by amino acid principal component analysis, multifloral grassland honey had the highest overall evaluation score, acacia and jujube honey were the most similar, while chaste honey was the least similar to the other types of honey. In addition, DNA was extracted from 174 Xinjiang grassland honey samples and different plant leaves for PCR and sequencing to identify the species of nectar plants. As a result, 12 families and 25 species of honey plants were identified. The results confirmed the diversity of FAAs in dissimilar types and sources of honey. This study provides a reference for expanding honey quality standards and verifying the authenticity of honey.

Keywords: UPLC-MS/MS; free amino acids (FAAs); honey; nectar plants.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
MRM chromatograms of 20 amino acid derivatives and internal standards (removal of methylleucine).
Figure 2
Figure 2
Figure of total free amino acid concentrations (column 1) and total endogenous, exogenous, and relative exogenous amino acid concentrations (column 2) in different types of honey. (The same letter above the bar graph indicates that the value is not statistically significant (p ≥ 0.05)).
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) Heat map of Pearson’s correlation coefficient relationship between FAAs in all studied honey types. (B) Heat map of FAA content in different types and sources of honey. (C) Three-dimensional plot of principal component analysis of seven honey species. (D) Figure of composite scores for different types of honey. (E) Figure of cluster analysis of different types of honey. (F) Figure of the self-built nectar plant bank and the nectar plants detected from the honey samples (blue). (G) Figure of the classification and number identified in multifloral grassland honey.
Figure 3
Figure 3
(A) Heat map of Pearson’s correlation coefficient relationship between FAAs in all studied honey types. (B) Heat map of FAA content in different types and sources of honey. (C) Three-dimensional plot of principal component analysis of seven honey species. (D) Figure of composite scores for different types of honey. (E) Figure of cluster analysis of different types of honey. (F) Figure of the self-built nectar plant bank and the nectar plants detected from the honey samples (blue). (G) Figure of the classification and number identified in multifloral grassland honey.
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