Chemometric differentiation of Greek chestnut and oak honeydew honeys

Abstract Chestnut and oak honeys are harvested during the same period, in early summer, and from overlapping geographical regions in Greece, making their botanical differentiation challenging. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of their physicochemical properties (diastase activity, hydroxymethylfurfural content, and electrical conductivity), phenolic compound profiles, and total phenolic content. Initially, a t-test was employed to compare mean differences between the two honey types. Subsequently, chemometric techniques, including principal component analysis (PCA), linear discriminant analysis (LDA), and binary logistic regression, were applied to assess their botanical origin. The results demonstrated that a combination of electrical conductivity and chlorogenic acid content effectively distinguished chestnut from oak honeydew honey. Remarkably, 100% of the samples were correctly classified, highlighting the robustness of this approach. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to propose these parameters as reliable markers for differentiating these honey types in regions where their production overlaps.