Suitability of three-dimensional synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy for fingerprint analysis of honey samples with reference to their phenolic profiles

The suitability of a right-angle geometry three-dimensional synchronous fluorescence spectroscopy (3D-SFS) for the differentiation and classification of different honey types, including acacia, buckwheat, heather, linden, multiflower and rape honeys, was evaluated with reference to their phenolic profiles. The fraction of phenolic compounds was initially isolated and pre-concentrated from analyzed samples by means of polymeric reversed phase Strata X solid phase extraction (SPE) cartridges. A thoughtful analysis of 3D-SF spectra of resulting methanolic extracts of honey samples containing the separated fraction of phenolics and standards of phenolic acids and flavonoids revealed that the proposed methodology based on SPE and 3D-SFS is capable of discriminating honey samples due to different floral sources in a fast and straightforward way.