Identification on Purity of Tualang and Kelulut Honey Through Measurement of pH and Electrical Conductivity

Abstract

There are abundant of replicated honey being sold in the market. Various tests and analysing techniques have been employed to verify the purity of honey, aiming to avoid consuming highly concentrated sugar solution that can cause various harmful effects on health. There is a growing interest on mobile authentication procedure to screen on purity of honey sample. In this study, screening for pure honey based on electrical conductivity and pH levels was analysed with the aim of simplifying screening process of isolating pure honey from replicated sample. The findings revealed that the electrical conductivity of pure tualang and kelulut honey ranged between 0.40 – 0.56 mS/cm and 0.80 – 0.93 mS/cm, respectively. All synthetic and adulterated samples were outside this range. As for pH levels, both tualang and kelulut were measured between pH 3.55 – 3.74 and 2.63 – 3.30, respectively, with several adulterated tualang and kelulut samples falling within the pH range of pure honey. Based on these findings, it is possible to isolate pure honey from replicated samples by measuring both electrical conductivity and pH, with electrical conductivity being particularly effective in distinguishing pure honey from both synthetic and adulterated samples.