I

ANNO 2 Numero 1
Livia Persano Oddo [1], Roberto Piro [2]

Characterisation of European unifloral honeys

[1] CRA - Istituto Sperimentale per la Zooologia Agraria (Sez. Apicoltura), Rome (Italy)
[2] Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale della Lombardia e dell'Emilia Romagna, Brescia (Italy)

Contact: livia.persano@apicoltura.org

International norms concerning honey allow denominations referring to botanical origin. However, norms do not specify reference parameters or limits to ascertain the correct use of such denominations. A wide study was carried out in order to define the characteristics of unifloral honeys and characterisation sheets were compiled describing the 15 most important unifloral honey types produced in Europe: Brassica, Calluna, Castanea, Citrus, Eucalyptus, Helianthus, Lavandula, Rhododendron, Robinia, Rosmarinus, Taraxacum, Thymus, Tilia, honeydew and Metcalfa honeydew. Moreover, on the basis of the wide data bank collected, physicochemical “profiles” of unifloral honeys were elaborated, related to 19 honey types, that represent a practical tool for the control of botanical denominations.