20.500.12556/DiRROS-31471 Determining the authenticity of Ghanaian honeys using stable isotope ratio analysis (SIRA) Honey is a high-value food product that is vulnerable to adulteration with exogenous sugars, posing challenges for food authenticity and consumer protection. This study applied Stable Isotope Ratio Analysis (SIRA) to assess the authenticity of honey collected from three major honey-producing regions of Ghana (Volta, Bono and Bono East). A total of 28 honey samples were analysed by elemental analysis–isotope ratio mass spectrometry (EA-IRMS) to obtain carbon (δ13C), nitrogen (δ15N) and sulphur (δ34S) isotope composition. Honey authenticity was evaluated according to AOAC Official Method 998.12 by comparing δ13C values of bulk honey and the corresponding protein fraction. The δ15N and δ34S values in honey protein were used to investigate environmental and regional variability. Samples without detectable C4 adulteration exhibited δ13Cprotein values consistent with C3 floral sources, whereas several samples showed Δδ13C values more negative than −1.0‰, indicating the presence of C4-derived sugars above the AOAC adulteration threshold. Calculated C4 sugar contents ranged from 8 to 12% in moderately adulterated samples to as high as 78–79% in severely adulterated samples, confirming substantial dilution with C4 sugars. Nitrogen and sulphur isotope ratios provide additional information on environmental and regional variability among the sampled regions. Principal Component Analysis revealed that the first two principal components (PC1 and PC2) accounted for 83.8% of the total variance 83.8% of the total variance and showed separation between samples with detectable C4 adulteration and those without, while highlighting regional isotopic differences. These results demonstrate that stable isotope analysis is an effective tool for detecting C4 sugar adulteration in honey and that the combined use of carbon, nitrogen and sulphur isotopes can provide additional information on environmental and regional variability. These findings provide preliminary isotopic data on honey collected from three major honey-producing regions of Ghana and support the application of the stable isotope approach for honey authenticity assessment and quality control. carbon isotopes nitrogen isotopes sulphur isotopes honey authenticity food fraud ogljikovi izotopi dušikovi izotopi žveplovi izotopi avtentičnost medu poneverbe živil true false true MDPI Švica Angleški jezik Slovenski jezik © 2026 by the authors. Neznano 2026-08-03 13:04:36 2026-08-03 13:04:36 2026-08-04 03:53:13 0000-00-00 00:00:00 2026 0 0 Nasl. z nasl. zaslona; Soavtorice iz Slovenije: Zala Sel, Marjeta Mencin, Nives Ogrinc; Opis vira z dne 17. 7. 2026; str. 1-14 iss. 14 Vol. 31 Jul. 2026 0000-00-00 Zaloznikova Objavljeno apc 2026-05-05 2026-06-30 2026-07-08 543 1420-3049 10.3390/molecules31142401 285238275 https://www.mdpi.com/1420-3049/31/14/2401 1 1eabb87f-8f2b-11f1-a7fa-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=48759 RAZ_Kpattah_Lebene_2026.pdf RAZ_Kpattah_Lebene_2026.pdf 1 DC306350365C3E966C693B23B606392F f45a50f6b1a096c128acfeac66d45023629eb627c3e09716dd2c64381d823046 86e2ecd2-8f2b-11f1-a7fa-001a4af901a5 https://dirros.openscience.si/Dokument.php?lang=slv&id=48760 Institut Jožef Stefan 0 0 0