A green triple-locked strategy based on volatile-compound imaging, chemometrics, and markers to discriminate winter honey and sapium honey using headspace gas chromatography-ion mobility spectrometry.

A simple and environmentally approach using untargeted imaging of volatile substances combined with chemometrics and markers response was proposed for discriminating different species of honey with headspace gas-chromatography-ion-mobility (HS-GC-IMS). The 3D HS-GC-IMS imaging and their response differences enabled the clear discrimination between winter honey and sapium honey. Principal component analysis (PCA) and partial least-squares discrimination analysis (PLS-DA) were employed to discriminate different honey. Markers of two kinds of honey were identified and confirmed with a user-built imaging database combined with multivariate analysis. Benzaldehyde dimer and phenylacetaldehyde dimer were found to be reliable markers of winter honey, and phenylethyl acetate dimer was of sapium honey. Adulteration identification of the honey samples with different adulteration ratios were subjected to this triple-locked strategy analysis. The results demonstrate that HS-GC-IMS imaging coupled with chemometrics and marker identification is a useful triple-locked strategy to discriminate honey from different floral origins and adulterated honey.