Palynological and physicochemical characterisation of Croatian honeys--Christ's thorn med

The aim of this research was to determine physicochemical parameters and pollen spectrum of Christ's thorn (Paliurus spina christi Mill.) honey. 15 samples of honey from three production seasons were analysed. Pollen spectrum indicated that all honey samples were unifloral, with Paliurus spina Christi pollen content of 46-92 %, while number of other botanical species varied in range from 5 to 16. Moisture, electrical conductivity, pH, free, lactone and total acidity, invertaze and diastase activity, hydroxymethylfurfural and proline content and specific rotation were determined, as well as content of sugars. Physicochemical parameters showed that Chist's thorn honey is characterized by high activity of enzymes diastase (25.39-50.51, mean 42.08) and especially invertaze (164.9-299.7 U/kg, mean 245.5 U/ kg), high electrical conductivity (0.45-0.89 mS/cm, mean 0.68 mS/cm) and high proline content (346.4-667.1 mg/kg, mean 518.6 mg/kg). Keywords: Christ's thorn honey, melissopalynological analysis, physicochemical properties Cilj rada bio je odrediti fizikalno-kemijska svojstva i sastav peludi meda drace (Paliurus spina Christi Mill.). Analizirano je 15 uzoraka meda proizvedenih u tri sezone. Peludna analiza je potvrdila da su svi uzorci monoflorni sa sadrzajem peludi drace od 46 % do 92 %, dok je broj biljnih vrsta a uzorcima varirao od 5 do 16. Takoder, odreden je udio vode, elektricna vodljivost, pH, slobodna, laktonska i ukupna kiselost, aktivnost invertaze i dijastaze, sadrzaj hidroksimetilfurfurala i prolina, specificna rotacija, to sadrzaj secera. Fizikalno-kemijski parametri su ukazali da je dracin med karakteristican po visokoj aktivnosti enzima dijastaze (25.39-50.51, srednja vrijednost 42.08), to posebice invertaze (164.9-299.7 U/kg, srednja vrijednost 245.5 U/kg), visokoj elektricnoj vodjivosti (0.45-0.89 mS/cm, srednja vrijednost 0.68 mS/cm) i visokom sadrzaju prolina (346.4-667.1 mg/kg, srednja vrijednost 518.6 mg/kg). Kljucne rijeci: dracin med, melisopalinoloska analiza, fizikalno-kemijska svojstva