A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
DNA traces the origin of honey by identifying plants, bacteria and fungi
Authors: Wirta Helena, Abrego Nerea, Miller Kirsten, Roslin Tomas, Vesterinen Eero
Publisher: NATURE RESEARCH
Publication year: 2021
Journal: Scientific Reports
Journal name in source: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
Journal acronym: SCI REP-UK
Article number: ARTN 4798
Volume: 11
Number of pages: 14
ISSN: 2045-2322
eISSN: 2045-2322
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-84174-0
Web address : https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-84174-0
Self-archived copy’s web address: https://research.utu.fi/converis/portal/Publication/53710508
The regional origin of a food product commonly affects its value. To this, DNA-based identification of tissue remains could offer fine resolution. For honey, this would allow the usage of not only pollen but all plant tissue, and also that of microbes in the product, for discerning the origin. Here we examined how plant, bacterial and fungal taxa identified by DNA metabarcoding and metagenomics differentiate between honey samples from three neighbouring countries. To establish how the taxonomic contents of honey reflect the country of origin, we used joint species distribution modelling. At the lowest taxonomic level by metabarcoding, with operational taxonomic units, the country of origin explained the majority of variation in the data (70-79%), with plant and fungal gene regions providing the clearest distinction between countries. At the taxonomic level of genera, plants provided the most separation between countries with both metabarcoding and metagenomics. The DNA-based methods distinguish the countries more than the morphological pollen identification and the removal of pollen has only a minor effect on taxonomic recovery by DNA. As we find good resolution among honeys from regions with similar biota, DNA-based methods hold great promise for resolving honey origins among more different regions.
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