Heavy metal analysis and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy characterization of selected wild honey from Davao Region, Philippines

• Main Author: Tanael, Joanna Monique G.
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Animo Repository 2018
• Subjects: Honey; Heavy metals; Chemistry
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/etd_bachelors/2963
• Institution: De La Salle University

Honey is a honeybee product primarily composed of sugars. Heavy metals are metalloids commonly associated with pollution and toxicity. Because honeybees and their products have been known to be good bio-indicators for heavy metal pollution, the heavy metal concentration in honey may indicate the presence of pollution in the environment. Five commercial wild honey from Davao Region were obtained and their heavy metal concentrations, Cd, Cu, Cr, Fe, Pb, Ni, were determined using acid digestion for sample preparation and atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS). The samples were also characterized using the fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR). The heavy metal concentrations for the honey samples ranges from 0.153 to 0.281 ppb for iron, 0.0405 to 0.0849 ppb for copper,Business opportunities explored included FTIR spectra fingerprinting, authentication of unadulterated honey, and honey as an alternative bio-indicator of heavy metal pollution.