Mass Spectrometric 13C/12C Determinations to distinguish honey (C3 plants) and sugar syrup

Published in: 1978

OS-718 LWD: McDowell 10/18/78

 

Excerpt:

Stable carbon isotope ratio analysis was applied to concentrated extracts of authentic honey-processed pineapple and papaya samples and of imported candied samples alleged to have been processed with honey. The nine imported samples had d13C values ranging from -11.1%0 to -15.0%0’ while pineapple and papaya samples known to be processed with honey had values of -25.00/00 and -25.20
/001 respectively. The results show that the imported samples were processed with sugar sirups derived from plants utilizing the Hatch-Slack (C4) photosynthetic cycle, such as sugar cane and corn, rather than with honey which is derived from Calvin (C3) floral sources.

 

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