Abstract
Honey is a common sweetener in the Jordanian diet with an annual consumption of approximately one thousand tons, two-thirds of which are imported. It is believed that the elemental profile of honey is an indicator of safety and botanical and geographic origin. In the literature, there are a lack of studies concerning the levels of major and trace elements in honey in Jordan. A total of 46 elements, including 15 rare earth elements (REEs), were analyzed by inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) in 18 monofloral and multifloral imported honey samples and 12 multifloral local samples. Regarding monofloral samples, Black Forest samples had the highest total metal content, while acacia samples had the lowest total metal content. Local multifloral honey had the largest Sr and total REE levels, while it had the lowest Mn levels. Very low levels of toxic elements were found in all samples, indicating the safety of honey in Jordan for human consumption. The results of this study showed that a large number of samples (> 100) and the application of advanced statistical models are required to discriminate between multifloral imported and local honey.
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Acknowledgements
This project was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research at Jordan University of Science and Technology. ICP-MS analysis was performed at Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) laboratories. The authors would like to thank Dr. Hanan Hammouri from Department of Mathematics and Statistics at Jordan University of Science and Technology for valuable help in the statistical analysis. Additionally, we would like to thank all who participated in this research and provided honey samples.
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This research was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research-Jordan University of Science and Technology (Project n. 625/2016).
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The authors contributed to this research in the following manner. Y. Tahboub and A. Al-Ghzawi supervised all stages from the collection of samples to the writing of the manuscript. S. Al-Zayadneh and M. AlGhotani validated the methods and performed elemental analysis.
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Tahboub, Y.R., Al-Ghzawi, A.AM.A., Al-Zayafdneh, S.S. et al. Levels of trace elements and rare earth elements in honey from Jordan. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 11469–11480 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16460-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16460-3