The GC and GC/MS analyses of the solvent organic extractive from the stomach of the bees, having collected Mentha spp. nectar, revealed the presence of methyl syringate (6.6%), terpendiol I (5.0%) and vomifoliol (3.0%) that can be attributed to the plant origin.
Other major compounds from the bee-stomach were related to the composition of cuticular
waxes and less to pheromones.
Organic extractives from Mentha spp. honey were obtained by solvent-free headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) and ultrasonic solvent extraction (USE) and analyzed by GC and GC/MS. The major honey headspace
compounds were hotrienol (31.1%–38.5%), 2-methoxy-4-methylphenol (0.5–6.0%), cisand
trans-linalool oxides (0.9–2.8%), linalool (1.0–3.1%) and neroloxide (0.9–1.9%).
Methyl syringate was the most abundant compound (38.3-56.2%) in the honey solvent
extractives followed by vomifoliol (7.0–26.6%). Comparison of the honey organic
extractives with the corresponding bee-stomach extractive indicated that methyl syringate
and vomofoliol were transferred to the honey while terpendiol I was partially transformed
to hotrienol in ripened honey.