Honey is a natural sweetener with a complex composition. Honey features vary depending on the botanical source and geographical origin, as well as climatic, processing and storage conditions. Honey is mainly composed of carbohydrates and water, parameters that influence its shelf life and some of its properties, including color, flavor, density, viscosity, hygroscopicity, and crystallization. Honey also contains small amounts of other components, such as nitrogen compounds, organic acids, minerals, vitamins, Maillard reaction products, volatile compounds, and several bioactive substances that affect sensory and physical characteristics, as well as biological potential. This review summarizes the literature about the composition and main properties of honey. It also describes the use of honey as a biomonitor for collecting information about the environment, identifying environmental contamination and assessing the level of soil, water, plant and air pollution.

Composition and properties of Apis mellifera honey: A review

Pyrrolizidine alkaloids (PA) are widely distributed in plants throughout the world, frequently in species relevant for human consumption. Apart from the toxicity that these molecules can cause in humans and livestock, PA are also known for their wide range of pharmacological properties, which can be exploited in drug discovery programs. In this work we review the current body of knowledge regarding the chemistry, toxicology, pharmacology and food safety of PA.

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Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids: Chemistry, Pharmacology, Toxicology and Food Safety

Recent advances on HPLC/MS in medicinal plant analysis-An update covering 2011-2016.

Development and validation of a QuEChERS method coupled to liquid chromatography and high resolution mass spectrometry to determine pyrrolizidine and tropane alkaloids in honey.

Flávia Gontijo de Lima

Papers

A fast and simple LC-ESI-MS/MS method for detecting pyrrolizidine alkaloids in honey with full validation and measurement uncertainty