Investigação de ácidos fenólicos em amostras de mel por cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência e sua aplicação na caracterização da origem floral

Abstract

This work describes the investigation of phenolic acids in 13 samples of eucalyptus honey and 5 samples of wild honeys from different geographical regions. The samples were analyzed by high-pressure liquid chromatography with a diode array detector. The analysis of UV spectra obtained with the eucalyptus honeys showed the presence of gallic, vanillic, p-coumaric, ferulic and cinnamic acids while the wild honeys contain mainly gallic, vanillic, chlorogenic, o-coumaric, cinnamic and 2-methoxy cinnamic acids. The HPLC technique has been shown to be effective and reproducible. Given this high reproducibility and versatility, this technique may become useful in the identification of the floral origin in the control of commercial honeys, thus analytical helping the palinological analysis. The chromatographical profiles of the phenolic acids from honeys of the same species coming from different regions did not show any major qualitative or quantitative differences suggesting that these phenolic compounds may serve as chemical markers for the botanical or geographical chacterization of honeys. The number of wild honeys analyzed was small and a more through investigation must be carried out in order to uequivocally confirm their composition. A larger number of samples belongings to the same floral origin but coming from different regions showed be analyzed to corroborate their use chemical markers.