PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL INDICATORS, CONTENT OF MICRO AND MACROELEMENTS AND HEAVY METALS IN SUNFLOWER HONEY

N. Eremia, I. Neicovcena, I. Griţunic

Abstract
   The problems of production of high-quality and safe food products and food raw materials are now quite relevant and widely discussed all over the world. The purpose of this work was to study the physicochemical parameters, the content of micro-, macroelements and the presence of heavy metals in sunflower honey. The content of micro- and macroelements and the presence of toxic elements in sunflower honey were determined by the atomic absorption spectrometry method at the Institute of Chemistry of the ASM. It is revealed that the mass fraction of water in sunflower honey has made 17.12%, a invert sugar – 92.24%, sucrose – 1.35%, Diastase number – 21.49 units to Gotha, oxymethylfurfural – 9.44 mg/kg, the general acidity – 2.26 сm³NaOH solution in (miliequivalent) on 100 g of honey and ash-content – 0.12%. It is revealed that in sunflower honey minerals average Mn – 0.320 mg/kg, Zn – 0.397 mg/kg, Cu – 0.397 mg/kg, Fe – 2.950 mg/kg, Cr – <0.12 mg/kg, Ni – <0.17 mg/kg, and macroelements: Ca²⁺ – 85.833 mg/kg, Mg²⁺ – 27.00 mg/kg, K⁺ – 944.23 mg/kg, Na⁺ – 23.00 mg/kg, P₂O₅ – 67.20 mg/kg. It is established that sunflower honey on average contains 1.101 mg / g of amino acids, of which the greatest amount is proline – 27.52%, aspartic acid – 15.44% and glutamic acid – 11.35% of the total amount. It is established that sunflower honey on average contains heavy metals: lead – <0.10 mg/kg, cadmium – <0.01 mg/kg, strontium – <2.3 Bq/kg, zinc – 0.448 mg/kg, copper – 0.318 mg/kg. The mineral structure of honey can depend on the region of origin of melliferous cultures, including on soil and climatic conditions.

Key words: sunflower honey, physical and chemical indicators, micro, macroelements, heavy metals, amino acids