Home – Home – Jornals – Chemistry for Sustainable Development 2022 number 2

The carbon isotope composition analysis of 51 melliferous plants species of the Tomsk region, 35 samples of pollen load, 77 samples of honey and 36 samples of dead bees taken from different geographic regions of Russia was carried out. The stable carbon isotope ratios were measured to reveal the applicability of isotope ratio mass spectrometry to detect honey adulteration with sugar syrup and to determine the geographical origin. Seven adulterated honey samples were identified with the help of the method of honey adulteration detection based on comparison of the ¹³C/¹²C isotope ratio in honey sample and in the protein isolated from honey, which was an internal standard. Some differences in the carbon isotope composition (δ¹³C) are observed for honey samples from the Tomsk Region collected in 2019 and 2020, which points to the necessity of further studies of the influence of climatic conditions and honey harvesting season on the ratio of stable carbon isotopes in honey. Carbon isotope analysis demonstrated differences between honey samples differing from each other in geographical origin. Higher δ¹³C values are typical for honey samples from the European part of Russia and the Black Sea region. The δ¹³C values of honey from Siberian regions with a lower average temperature or higher air humidity are lower. For local areas, the “canopy effect” was revealed, in which the carbon isotope composition of the pollen load for forest ecosystems is depleted in ¹³С isotopes, compared to meadow ecosystems. Trophic enrichment values (Δ¹³С = 1.0±1.2 ‰) in the chain “pollen load - bee” were also determined.