Australian Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences, 4(4): 552-556, 2010 ISSN 1991-8178 Identification of the Floral Origin of Honey by Amino Acids Composition Seif Eldin Abdel Rahman Mohammed and Elfadil Elfadl Babiker 1 2 National Centre for Research, P.O. Box 6096, Khartoum-Sudan 1 Department of Food Science and Technology, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Khartoum, 2 Khartoum North, Shambat, 13314, Sudan Abstract: A study was performed to find a correlation criterion between the amino acid composition and the botanical origin, in order to classify honey. The amino acids analyzer was used to determine the amino acids of honey samples from five different single botanical origins. Aspartic acid, phenylalanine, glutamic acid and proline were predominant ones, but not unique for honey types. Cystine was not detected in Acacias and Azadirachta honey. For all honey types the reset of amino acids determined, differed among them. Principle component analysis (PCA) was applied to data for pattern recognition. Discriminant function analysis was applied to four selected amino acids (Asp, Glu, His, and Phe) based on the result of PCA. Five groups of honey are shown in Dendrogram using cluster analysis. Discriminant function analysis showed high correct classification rate (93.33%). Ziziphus, Helianthus, Acacia seyal and Azadirachta honeys were 100% correctly classified and Acacia nilotica honey was 66.67% correctly classified. Key words: amino acid composition; principle component analysis; honey classification INTRODUCTION Honey is nature’s original sweetener. It has been used as food for at least six thousand years and from that time it was the sole source of sweet for much of the world’s population. Interestingly, honey has been cited in the Quran, a Holy book of Muslims, in reference to its medicinal properties (Khan, S.Z. and T. Maqbool, 2008). It has been reported that amino acids in honey amount for 1% (w/w), and proline is the major contributor (Babendreier, D., 2004). Besides proline, there are 26 amino acids in honey, their relative proportions depending on the honey origin (nectar or honey dew). Some investigations proved a correlation between pollen, amino acid composition and the foraging behavior of honeybees (Cook, S.M., 2003). Statistical tests have become powerful tools for determining the geographical origin of honey. The application of linear discriminant analysis and the use of certain ratios between amino acid contents found in honeys allowed both geographical and botanical differences to be established (Iglesias, M.T., 2006). Both geographical and botanical origins of honey by applying different statistical tests such as Principle Component Analysis, Cluster Analysis, Partial Least Squares, and Support Vector Machine can be determined based on honey rheological data (Wei, Z., 2010). Also analysis of proline, leucine and phenayalalanine has been proposed to assess the effect of storage, ageing and processing on honey quality. Thus the use of multi-parametric studies, associated with chemo-metrics, yields satisfactory results for honey classification (Baroni, M.V., 2002). Interest in knowledge of the amino acids profile for honey has centered on three fields: first, as a potential tool for the botanical and geographical differentiation of honeys secondly, from a nutritional point of view and third, for quality control as indicator of freshness, based on the content of a few free amino acids (Gonza´lez Parama´s, A.M., 2006). The purpose of the present study was to investigate the amino acid profile of selected honeys types of single botanical origins and to predict their usefulness in honey classification by means of multi-parametric statistics. MATERIALS AND METHODS Materials: Honey samples from five floral sources: Ziziphus sp, Helianthus annuus, Acacia nilotica, Acacia seyal, and Azadarichta indica, were collected during the season 2006/2007 from different states in Sudan. All reagents Corresponding Author: Seif Eldin Abdel Rahman Mohammed, National Centre for Research, P.O. Box 6096, Khartoum-Sudan Phone: +923232937579; E-mail:seifo169@hotmail.com. 552