Impedance spectroscopy for rapid determination of honey floral origin.

In this work electrical impedance spectroscopy was applied as an alternative method for floral origin determination of different honeys, which may supplement the labeling the according to European Legislation. Impedance measurements in agreement with data from routine analyses, allowed to verify floral origin of honey samples and to acquire information on chemical and physical properties, such as conductivity, ash content and acidity. Equivalent electrical circuits have been extracted for each honey sample, which have been validated by means of electrical simulation, and every electrical component has been associated to a specific honey characteristic. It can be concluded that the methods developed here permits rapid and easy determination of honey floral origin, no sample preparation procedure is required and it could be used in official control laboratories.