Abstract

COMPARATIVE PURITY CHECKING AND STANDARDIZATION STUDY OF MARKETED PRODUCTS OF HONEY

Mr. Rohan R. Vakhariya*, Swapnali More, Tamanna Mujawar, Pratiksha Muthekar, Harshada Ombase

ABSTRACT

Honey in its pure form is a powerhouse of health benefit from fighting ulcers and cancers to treating coughs and cuts. Honey has been for a long time a target for adulteration. Untruthful traders started making money by adding cheap components to honey and sold them at high prices in the market. Different types of honey vary in terms of composition, shelf life, cost and packing. The aim of the present work is to test the quality of 5 different brands of Indian honey. The test programme was developed as per parameters listed in the national standards like FSS Rules, Indian Standard and Agmark. It may be noted that as per Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), honey has been categorized into three grades: Special, Grade A and Standard. That is what this research aims to cover whether the various brands of honey meet the basic requirements. This becomes all the more vital in view of the claim made by several studies that much of the honey sold in retail stores is not exactly what the bees had produced.

Keywords: Honey, adulteration, quality, research, claim.