Advances in Honey Adulteration Detection
Differential Scanning Calorimetry
Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) is a thermal analysis method with a broad field of application. It is an efficient method for characterizing pure food compounds as well as their mixtures. DSC analysis is fairly rapid and simple, requires a small amount of sample (< 100 mg) and does not use solvents. It has been used in monitoring thermal behavior in different foods, as well as in cases where no heat exchange occurs. DSC can monitor and determine heat flows resulting from various structural modifications (phase transformations and transitions, glass transition, etc.) or decomposition of food compounds, during temperature-programmed scans. These phenomena allow the determination of the type of transformation occurring in the studied food product (e.g., granulation in honey) as well as its thermodynamic and kinetic properties. DSC can be a useful technique to complement chemical analytical methods which show the limitations of the physicochemical determinations (i.e., pH, acidity, water activity and conductivity).