Determination of volatile characteristics of Greek and Turkish pine honey samples and their classification by using Kohonen self organising maps

Forty-four samples of pine honey were analysed, 22 from Greece and 22 from Turkey. A purge & trap–gas chromatograph–mass spectrometer system was used for the extraction, separation and identification of volatile and semi-volatile compounds. In all, 77 compounds were extracted and identified. Two of them, the 3-carene, and one unidentified compound (m/z 55, 79, 91, 107, 123, 165) were found to be specific to Turkish honeys and may be considered as markers characterising the Turkish origin of samples. Beyond this result, and by using the Kohonen self-organizing map (KSOM), a clear differentiation was obtained between the Turkish and Greek pine honey samples from a global consideration of all the analysed volatile constituents.