In the case of direct analysis of water solutions of honey samples, the honey matrix, containing primarily fructose and glucose, is reported to deteriorate signals of determined elements and their detection limits (DLs), particularly when the content of honey samples in respective solutions is higher than 2 % m/v (Lopez Garcia et al. 1999; dos Santos et al. 2008; Pohl and Sergiel 2010, 2012; Sergiel and Pohl 2010).
Therefore, small samples of honey are handled at once using this method, but traces of certain elements cannot be determined.
For trace element analysis larger samples are often taken and mineralized to dispose the carbohydrate-rich matrix and pre-concentrate analytes.
This is commonly carried out using dry or wet high temperature decomposition procedures (Bulinski et al. 1995; Antonescu and Mateescu 2001; Pohl 2009; Pohl et al. 2012a; Grembecka and Szefer 2013).