Pollen diversity and volatile variability of honey from Corsican Anthyllis hermanniae L. habitat

Abstract

Melissopalynological, physicochemical, and volatile analyses of 29 samples of Corsican 'summer maquis' honey were performed. The pollen spectrum was characterized by a wide diversity of nectariferous and/or polleniferous taxa. The most important were Anthyllis hermanniae and Rubus sp., associated with some endemic taxa. Castanea sativa was also determined in these honeys with a great variation. The volatile fraction was characterized by 37 compounds and dominated by phenolic aldehydes and linear acids. The major compounds were phenylacetaldehyde, benzaldehyde, and nonanoic acid. Statistical analysis of pollen and volatile data showed that 18 samples were characterized by a high abundance of phenylacetaldehyde, which might relate to the high amount of A. hermanniae and Rubus sp. Eleven other samples displayed a higher proportion of phenolic ketones and linear acids, which characterized the nectar contribution of C. sativa and Thymus herba-barona, respectively.

Keywords: Anthyllis hermanniae; Canonical correspondence analysis (CCA); Headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME); Melissopalynological analysis; Summer maquis honey.