Karl Fischer Titration to determine moisture in honey: A new simplified approach

Honey, produced by Apis mellifera from nectar or honeydew, contains a discrete quantity of water (about 17%). The variability of water content influences the quality, the stability, the workability and the storage of honey. Moisture in honey is usually measured via determination of refractive index (RI); from the value measured, the percentage is calculated by an empirical formula or by “conversion” table. A possible alternative approach is the Karl Fischer Titration (KFT). The objective of this work was to find the optimal parameters for water determination in honey with KFT without any heat treatment of sample or working medium and the measurement of water content in more than 100 honeys of different botanical origin, using RI and KFT determinations. The water content, obtained with KFT, was usually higher than that determined by RI analysis. According to our results KFT seems to be the most reliable method.