Mineral analysis of mono-floral New Zealand honey

Abstract

The levels of 18 different minerals in ten locally produced mono-floral honeys (clover, honeydew, ka¯mahi, ma¯nuka, nodding thistle, ra¯ta¯ , rewarewa, ta¯wari, thyme and viper’s bugloss honey) were determined, as well as moisture content, pH, conductivity and colour. The most abundant minerals were potassium, phosphorus and calcium, ranging between 34.8–3640, 29.5–255 and 7.21–94.3 mg/kg, respectively. Potassium made up 73% of the total mineral content. There was a large range of mean total mineral contents, with honeydew honey having the highest level (4060 mg/kg) and viper’s bugloss honey the lowest (126 mg/kg). Honeydew had more than twice the mean total mineral contents than ka¯mahi, the next highest. The heavy metal contents (Cd, Pb and Zn) of the mono-floral honey types investigated were very low. A strong positive relationship between mean conductivity and total mineral content (r2 = 0.973), and pH and total mineral content (r2 = 0.776) was observed in this study.