*3.1. Melissopalynological Analysis*

Melissopalynological analysis is considered a traditional approach for the determination of the botanical origin of honey, and is a method of analysis that involves microscopic examination of pollen grains in order to identify the plants that were visited by bees during honey production [34]. Pollen analysis is a method developed and proposed by the International Bee Botanical Commission (IBBC) in 1970, which was revised in 1978 [28]. A honey sample can be classified as monofloral honey when more than 45% of the pollen grains belong to a single plant species for rape, raspberry, mint and sunflower [16], while thyme honey must be at least 18% total pollen grains [17]; this type of honey is the most preferred by consumers for its specific aroma, taste and biological properties [18,19]. The melissopalynological analysis is presented in Table 1. The raspberry honey had the principal pollen *Rubus idaeus* (49.1–82.3%), rape honey had the principal pollen *Brassica spp.* (50.1–71.1%), sunflower has the principal pollen *Helianthus* spp. (46.5–92.1%) and thyme had the principal pollen *Thymus* spp. (22–45%), respectively.

**Table 1.** Pollen types in honey samples.


Based on pollen analysis, the samples were classified according to the botanical origin as raspberry (6 samples), rape (10 samples), sunflower (9 samples), thyme (4 samples), mint (10 samples) and polyfloral honey (6 samples). Of the monofloral honey samples, the highest percentage of pollen grains was found in rape and sunflower honey.

### *3.2. Moisture Content*

The moisture content of honey is dependent on factors such as the relative humidity in the region where honey comes from and the processing and storage conditions [11]. The Codex Alimentarius standard established that the moisture content of honey must be below 20% [2]. Honey samples that do not meet this criterion could become unstable during storage and thus be susceptible to deterioration by fermentation caused by yeas<sup>t</sup> and bacteria naturally found in honey [35]. The moisture content of the analyzed samples ranged between an average value of 17.36% in thyme samples and a maximum average value of 19.60% in the polyfloral honey samples, as shown in Table 1. The botanical origin of honey did not influence the variation of the moisture content (*p* > 0.05), while the year of honey production had some influence (*p* < 0.05) on this parameter. All honey samples had moisture contents in the limits established by legislation. The mint and thyme honey samples had values between 17.36% (thyme honey) and 17.77% (mint honey), while Boussaid et al. [36] reported for mint honey the value of 19.8% and for thyme honey, 18.16%. The results of this analysis were in accordance with the values reported by Karabagias et al. [17] who determined in honey samples a moisture content that ranged from 10.74% (Symi honey sample) to 20.94% (Lakonia honey sample). <sup>M</sup>ărghitas, et al. [37] reported a variation in the moisture content for the Romanian honey between 16.6% and 20%, while Küçük et al. [38] reported values of moisture content from 19% to 19.7% for Anatolian honey. Escuredo et al. [39] determined a moisture content between 15.5% and 19.8% for honey samples from Spain.
