Honey is a natural product widely consumed all over the world due to its relationship with healthy benefits. Additionally, environmental and ethical issues have a higher weight in the consumer's choice to buy honey as a natural product. Following the high demand of this product, several approaches have been suggested and developed aiming at the assessment of honey's quality and authenticity. Target approaches, such as pollen analysis, phenolic compounds, sugars, volatile compounds, organic acids, proteins, amino acids, minerals, and trace elements, showed an efficacy, particularly concerning the honey origin. However, a special highlight is given to DNA markers, due to their useful applicability in environmental and biodiversity studies, besides the geographical, botanical, and entomological origins. Different DNA target genes were already explored for addressing diverse sources of honey DNA, with DNA metabarcoding attaining a relevant importance. This review aims to describe the latest advances on DNA-based methods applied in honey related studies, identifying the research needs for the development of new and additional required methodologies, and to select the most adequate tools for future research projects.
Keywords: DNA metabarcoding; DNA-based methods; environmental DNA; honey.