Determination of phenolic compounds in honeys with different floral origin by capillary zone electrophoresis

Twenty-six phenolic compounds from honey samples with different floral origin were analysed by capillary zone electrophoresis. All the phenolics were separated on a fused-silica column (50 cmx50 mu m) using 100 mM sodium berate buffer (pH 9.5)-20% methanol. This technique was applied to the separation of phenolic compounds from heather, lavender, acacia, rape, sunflower, rosemary, citrus, rhododendron, thyme, chestnut-tree and calluna honey samples, to establish correlations between the phenolics profiles and the botanical origin of the honey. Some individual honey samples showed potential floral markers. Thus, thyme honey was characterised by the presence of rosmarinic acid, heather honey by ellagic acid, citrus honey by hesperetin and lavender honey by naringenin. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.