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The aim of the study was to investigate health safety and quality of the Croatian acacia honey, the selected elements in the soil, and whether multivariate methods can provide identification of the origin of honey. The study included 200 acacia honey samples and 100 soil samples from East, Northwest Croatia, and Istria. The proportion of acacia in honey was determined by conducting pollen analysis. Water, free acids, electric conductivity, reducing sugars, saccharose, diastase, and HMF were determined. No significant differences were found using Kruskal-Wallis test regarding the physicochemical parameters (p=0.9190), the mineral content of honey (p=0.8955), or the mineral composition of the soil (p=0.8789). No significant correlation was found between the analyzed elements in honey and soil. Multivariate methods indicated that East Croatia honey samples have higher concentrations of water, HMF, and higher concentrations of measured elements, except for Al. Honey samples from Northwest Croatia are characterized by low concentrations of elements and a higher concentration of saccharose. The Istria samples are richer in reducing sugars, free acids, diastase, higher conductivity, higher content of the acacia pollen grains, and lower concentrations of most metals. Honey from Northwest Croatia and Istria shares the high concentration of Al in honey.

Ursulin-Trstenjak N., Levanic D., Primorac L., Bosnir J., Vahcic N., Saric G. (2015): Mineral profile of Croatian honey and differences due to its geographical origin. Czech J. Food Sci., 33: 156–164. The proportions of twelve minerals were determined in 200 samples of the black locust honey from five Croatian regions during two seasons. The average proportions were dominated by that of K (205.57–428.05 mg/kg), followed by Ca (33.53–329.00 mg/kg) and Na (23.34–218.04mg/kg), which was in percentages as follows: K 31.69–81.34%, Ca 6.51–35.56%, and Na 7.36–23.65%. Melissopalynological and physico-chemical analysis of honey confirmed its general quality requirements and botanical origin. One-factor analysis of variance showed a significant differences between the regions in each season based on the average proportions of macro and micro elements except for Mn and Cd in season 2 ( P < 0.05). t -Test enabled an insight into the significance of differences between the seasons within each region based on the average proportions of macro and micro elements. Principal components analysis (PCA) showed that Al (Bjelovar-Bilogora), Fe (Bjelovar-Bilogora and Istria), Cu (Eastern Croatia), and K (Istria) could present mineral substances typical for the black locust honey of each region.

Background: Vegetarian diets are rich in vegetables. Green leafy vegetables are foods that contain considerable amounts of nitrate, which can have both positive and negative effects on the human body. Their potential carcinogenicity and toxicity have been proven, particularly after the reduction of nitrate to nitrite itself or just serving as a reactant with amines and/or amides in the formation of N-nitroso compounds -N-nitrosamines and other nitrogen compounds which may have high levels of nitrate. The aim of this study was to determine whether there is a significant difference, considering the location and seasonal sampling period, in the level of nitrate in certain types of green vegetables, all in order to be able to assess their intake, and possible impact on human health, especially knowing that exposure to nitrate can be potentially higher for vegetarian population group. Materials and Methods: For this purpose, the sampling of 200 different leafy green vegetables was conducted, all of which could be found in free sale in the Republic of Croatia. The sampling was conducted during two seasonal periods - the spring and autumn period. In the springtime, lettuce (sem), spinach (pinacho), kale (kale), chard (mangel) and cabbage (brassica) were sampled, and in autumn lettuce, spinach, kale, chard and arugula. Samples were analyzed using high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with UV detection. Results: The results from the spring sampling phase were in the range of 603 mg/kg for cabbage - 972 mg/kg for chard, and for autumn phase of 1.024 mg/kg for chard to 4.354 mg/kg for the arugula. The results showed that there were significant differences (p