ORIGINAL ARTICLE Characterisation of Croatian honey by physicochemical and microbiological parameters with mold identification Maja Kiš 1 | Sanja Furmeg 2 | Vesna Jaki Tkalec 2 | Manuela Zadravec 3 | Marija Denžić Lugomer 1 | Ana Končurat 2 | Miroslav Benić 4 | Damir Pavliček 1 1 Laboratory for Analytical Chemistry and Residues, Veterinardy Centre Križevci, Croatian Veterinary Institute, Križevci, Croatia 2 Laboratory for Food and Feed Microbiology, Veterinary Centre Križevci, Croatian Veterinary Institute, Križevci, Croatia 3 Laboratory for Feed Microbiology, Croatian Veterinary Institute, Zagreb, Croatia 4 Laboratory for General Bacteriology and Mycology, Croatian Veterinary Institute, Zagreb, Croatia Correspondence Maja Kiš, Veterinary Centre Križevci, Croatian Veterinary Institute, Ivana Z. Dijankovečkog 10, Križevci HR‐48260, Croatia. Email: kis.vzk@veinst.hr Funding information This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not‐for‐profit sectors. Abstract Honey is an important food supplement in the human diet because of its nutritional quality. Therefore, honey should be safe for human consumption. The purpose of this research was to evaluate physicochemical and microbiological properties of 64 honey samples. The physicochemi- cal analysis (water content, hydroxymethylfurfural, electrical conductivity and diastase activity) showed that 95.31% of samples meet Croatian and European standards. Microbiological quality of tested samples was considered good with no pathogenic bacteria detected. In 34.38% of the samples, the yeast and mold count exceeded the limit established by legislation. The presence of yeasts was noted in 17 samples varying from 18 to 1300 CFU/g, whereas mold count ranged from 18 to 182 CFU/g. The study revealed that out of six genera of molds recovered, Cladosporium was the most frequent, followed by Alternaria, Penicillium, Mucor, Aureobasidium, and Stachybotrys. Considering that the majority of molds identified in this study are commonly found in bee hive environment and in digestive tract of honey bees, it can be concluded that the mold contamina- tion of honey in this study derives mainly from primary sources. The presence of Stachybotrys sp. is an indicator of contamination that comes from secondary sources. Practical applications Due to continuous expansion of the world honey market and increasing awareness of con- sumers towards healthy food, the importance of quality control of honey has also grown. In respond to these demands, this study presents physicochemical and microbiological properties of different types of Croatian honey, with special emphasis laid on the identification of the pre- sent molds in incompatible samples. The results of this study provide useful data that Croatian honey has good level of quality and contribute to better understanding of the genera of molds present in the honey from this region. 1 | INTRODUCTION In Croatia and the region demand for honey is on the rise. Consumers are becoming increasingly aware of the food with properties beneficial for their health, such as honey and bee products. Constant concern of consumers and producers is sanitary quality so during harvesting and extraction hygienic norms must be applied. Therefore, quality control of honey and bee products is required by analyzing chemical, physical, microbiological, and sensorial characteristics (Kružik, Gregrova, Rajchl, & Čižkova, 2017). Honey is an organic product which is consumed as a high nutri- tive value food. It is produced by Apis mellifera bees from the nectar of plants, secretions of living parts of plants or excretions of plant‐ sucking insects on the living parts of plants. It is a complex mixture, mainly composed of water and sugars, also containing gluconic acid, lactones nitrogen compounds, minerals, and some vitamins (Mahmoudi, Zare, Tajik, & Shadfar, 2012; White & Crane, 1975). High variations in chemical composition and physical properties of honey occur mainly due to its botanical and geographical origin, cli- matic conditions, the breed of bees and the ability of the beekeeper in processing of honey and storage. Different climate zones, plants and soil types in Croatia enable the production of different types of honey. One of the most important properties of the honey is botani- cal origin because of its impact on the price of the honey. It is very Received: 31 January 2018 Revised: 8 May 2018 Accepted: 15 May 2018 DOI: 10.1111/jfs.12492 J Food Saf. 2018;e12492. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jfs © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. 1 of 6 https://doi.org/10.1111/jfs.12492