Honey is among the most frequently adulterated animal-derived food products, with fraud commonly involving the addition of inexpensive syrups and incorrect labeling of its botanical, entomological, or geographical origin. Türkiye plays a significant role in the global honey market as the second-largest producer, with annual production exceeding 100,000 metric tons. Ensuring and verifying the geographic origin of Turkish honey is therefore essential for guaranteeing its authenticity. To address this, we developed a series of metabarcoding assays based on next-generation sequencing (NGS) to analyze 48 Turkish honey samples. This approach enabled the characterization of both botanical and entomological components, allowing the establishment of geographic fingerprints. The samples were collected from diverse regions across Türkiye, each accompanied by detailed geographic and ecological metadata, as well as declarations indicating whether the honey was monofloral or polyfloral and whether honeydew was present. Botanical composition was determined using DNA metabarcoding of informative chloroplast regions, combined with a bioinformatics pipeline referencing a database of over 150,000 plant species. This analysis identified the dominant plant taxa in each sample, encompassing more than 1,000 plant groups or species, thereby providing insights into both botanical and geographic origins. Entomological profiling relied on two mitochondrial DNA markers targeting hemipteran insects, capturing information about plant-sucking species inhabiting the agricultural and forest environments where the honey was produced. These insects, often associated with honeydew, display host-plant specificity linked to distinct ecosystems. By integrating botanical and entomological metabarcoding data, we established a comprehensive framework for verifying the geographic origin of Turkish honey, offering a powerful tool for its authentication.
Ribani, A., Özkan Koca, A., Taurisano, V., Bovo, S., Fontanesi, L. (2026). MULTIPLE METABARCODING ASSAYS GENERATE BOTANICAL AND ENTOMOLOGICAL DNA FINGERPRINTS TO DETERMINE THE GEOGRAPHIC ORIGIN OF TURKISH HONEY [10.5281/zenodo.21827594].
MULTIPLE METABARCODING ASSAYS GENERATE BOTANICAL AND ENTOMOLOGICAL DNA FINGERPRINTS TO DETERMINE THE GEOGRAPHIC ORIGIN OF TURKISH HONEY
Anisa Ribani;Valeria Taurisano;Samuele Bovo;Luca Fontanesi
2026
Abstract
Honey is among the most frequently adulterated animal-derived food products, with fraud commonly involving the addition of inexpensive syrups and incorrect labeling of its botanical, entomological, or geographical origin. Türkiye plays a significant role in the global honey market as the second-largest producer, with annual production exceeding 100,000 metric tons. Ensuring and verifying the geographic origin of Turkish honey is therefore essential for guaranteeing its authenticity. To address this, we developed a series of metabarcoding assays based on next-generation sequencing (NGS) to analyze 48 Turkish honey samples. This approach enabled the characterization of both botanical and entomological components, allowing the establishment of geographic fingerprints. The samples were collected from diverse regions across Türkiye, each accompanied by detailed geographic and ecological metadata, as well as declarations indicating whether the honey was monofloral or polyfloral and whether honeydew was present. Botanical composition was determined using DNA metabarcoding of informative chloroplast regions, combined with a bioinformatics pipeline referencing a database of over 150,000 plant species. This analysis identified the dominant plant taxa in each sample, encompassing more than 1,000 plant groups or species, thereby providing insights into both botanical and geographic origins. Entomological profiling relied on two mitochondrial DNA markers targeting hemipteran insects, capturing information about plant-sucking species inhabiting the agricultural and forest environments where the honey was produced. These insects, often associated with honeydew, display host-plant specificity linked to distinct ecosystems. By integrating botanical and entomological metabarcoding data, we established a comprehensive framework for verifying the geographic origin of Turkish honey, offering a powerful tool for its authentication.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
