Honey authentication using intrinsic DNA markers and metabolic fingerprint

使用内在 DNA 标记和代谢指纹进行蜂蜜认证

• 批准号: 2628784
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: CRANFIELD UNIVERSITY
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2628784
• 关键词: Honey; authentication; using; intrinsic; DNA

Honey is a completely natural product included in human diet for thousands of years. Honey's popularity in the UK is increasing continuously but domestic production covers ~14% of demand. Therefore, c40,000 tonnes of honey are imported annually (Eurostat, 2015). Demand for premium monofloral honeys is increasing (annual growth rate 5-15%) driven by flavour and perceived health benefits. Evidence on the effectiveness of honey for relieving symptoms in upper respiratory tract infections further support this view[1]. UK bee farmers are striving to produce their own monofloral honeys, with heather honey being the most important. Heather honey has rich phytochemical content and is considered comparable to New Zealand's manuka honey in terms of health benefits. However, research into the chemical composition and bioactivity of heather honey is sparse. In addition, the quality characteristics of heather honey are not well defined, making authentication difficult. The main method for botanical origin determination is melissopalinology (pollen counting) which requires high specialisation and is not always reliable[2].Another major challenge facing the honey industry worldwide is adulteration. Honey was among the top ten foods most at risk of adulteration in a list published by the EU (2013). At present, there is no single method for authenticity testing for honey and the majority of the tests are time-consuming and expensive.Modern techniques including spectroscopic methods have been applied successfully on honey authentication studies in other countries[3]. Preliminary results acquired from the Bioinformatics group at Cranfield University (unpublished) have also highlighted the promising potential of sensor technology, for honey characterisation. Newly emerging techniques have also focused on the discovery of metabolic and/or DNA biomarkers in honey using techniques such as HPLC and RT-PCR respectively for the botanical characterisation of honey and adulteration detection[3]. This approach has yielded promising results in the case of manuka honey[4]. Previous studies have proposed some biomarkers for heather honey in other European countries, such as abscisic acid, ellagic acid and isophorone5, but these markers are not unique to the botanical source and tend to differ between studies. Further research is required to deliver a reliable method for heather honey authentication. Hypothesis: We hypothesise that intrinsic DNA markers and metabolic fingerprint/biomarkers in honey and floral sources can be paired with artificial intelligence to develop novel methods for simultaneous botanical origin identification and adulteration detection in UK heather honey.

蜂蜜是一种完全天然的产品，几千年来一直存在于人类饮食中。蜂蜜在英国的受欢迎程度不断提高，但国内产量只能满足约 14% 的需求。因此，每年进口约 4 万吨蜂蜜（欧盟统计局，2015 年）。受风味和健康益处的推动，对优质单花蜂蜜的需求正在增加（年增长率 5-15%）。蜂蜜可有效缓解上呼吸道感染症状的证据进一步支持了这一观点[1]。英国养蜂人正在努力生产自己的单花蜂蜜，其中石南花蜂蜜是最重要的。石南花蜂蜜具有丰富的植物化学成分，在健康益处方面被认为可与新西兰的麦卢卡蜂蜜相媲美。然而，对石南花蜂蜜的化学成分和生物活性的研究很少。此外，石南花蜂蜜的质量特征没有明确定义，导致认证困难。植物来源测定的主要方法是蜂花学（花粉计数），该方法需要高度专业化且并不总是可靠[2]。全球蜂蜜行业面临的另一个主要挑战是掺假。在欧盟公布的一份清单中，蜂蜜是最容易掺假的十大食品之一（2013 年）。目前，蜂蜜真伪检测尚无单一方法，且大多数检测耗时且昂贵。包括光谱法在内的现代技术已在其他国家成功应用于蜂蜜真伪研究[3]。克兰菲尔德大学生物信息学小组（未发表）获得的初步结果也凸显了传感器技术在蜂蜜表征方面的巨大潜力。新兴技术还侧重于发现蜂蜜中的代谢和/或 DNA 生物标志物，分别使用 HPLC 和 RT-PCR 等技术来进行蜂蜜的植物学表征和掺假检测[3]。这种方法在麦卢卡蜂蜜的案例中取得了有希望的结果[4]。先前的研究提出了其他欧洲国家石南花蜂蜜的一些生物标志物，例如脱落酸、鞣花酸和异佛尔酮5，但这些标志物并不是植物来源所独有的，并且在研究之间往往有所不同。需要进一步的研究来提供可靠的石南花蜂蜜认证方法。假设：我们假设蜂蜜和花卉来源中的内在 DNA 标记和代谢指纹/生物标记可以与人工智能相结合，开发出同时对英国石南花蜂蜜进行植物来源鉴定和掺假检测的新方法。