Research progress on analytical methods for sugars in honey

  • YUAN Yuzhe ,
  • XUE Xiaofeng ,
  • YAN Sha ,
  • ZHANG Haifeng
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  • 1(State Key Laboratory of Resource Insects, Bee Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Beijing 100093, China)
    2(College of Food Science and Engineering, Shanxi Agricultural University, Jinzhong 030801, China)
    3(Breeding Bee Farm of Nilka County, Ili 835700, China)

Received date: 2024-12-30

  Revised date: 2025-03-25

  Online published: 2025-10-27

Abstract

Sugar is the most important component of honey, constituting approximately 75% of its total composition.Glucose and fructose are the predominant sugars in honey, accounting for 85%-95% of the total sugar content, followed by sucrose which accounts for 1%-5% of the total sugar content, in addition to nearly 30 types of oligosaccharides.These sugar compounds not only serve as essential nutritional constituents of honey but also act as endogenous indicators, playing a significant role in honey classification, adulteration detection, and floral origin authentication.This paper presents a comprehensive review of the analytical methods for sugar profiling in honey, including polarimetry, chemical titration, liquid chromatography (LC), gas chromatography (GC), ion chromatography (IC), and spectroscopy methods, each method has its underlying principles, applicability, advantages, and limitations.By describing the technical characteristics of these approaches, this review seeks to contribute to the refinement and development of analytical methods for honey sugar analysis.

Cite this article

YUAN Yuzhe , XUE Xiaofeng , YAN Sha , ZHANG Haifeng . Research progress on analytical methods for sugars in honey[J]. Food and Fermentation Industries, 2025 , 51(20) : 386 -394 . DOI: 10.13995/j.cnki.11-1802/ts.041973

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