Can Home Tests Reliably Determine the Quality and Authenticity of Honey?

Category "Research project", 11. – 12. grade

Eva-Maria Drandarova, 12th grade[1]

Supervisor: Elisaveta Mitova

Vocational High School of Chemical and Food Technologies – Pazardzhik (Bulgaria)

https://doi.org/10.53656/nat2025-3.35

Abstract. Honey is a valuable product, known for its health benefits and unique taste. Counterfeit products are often found on the market, which may contain additives such as sugar syrup, water, and others. This study aims to compare home tests to see if they give comparable results to those from a school laboratory. Two types of honey are used for the study:

Sample 1 – The beehive is located in “Natura 2000” Protected Areas.

Sample 2 – From the commercial network, natural bee honey.

Home tests can hardly prove with 100% accuracy whether it is real or adulterated with other substances, but they can be a good guide. Comparing the percentage water content with the result of the napkin test proves that there is more water in sample 2, as does the matchstick test. The vinegar test and the analysis for proving impurities with commercial glucose reach the conclusion that sample 2 contains impurities.

Keywords: honey; quality; authenticity, laboratory analyses, home tests

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