Abstract: Honey, as a natural sweet substance, has always been favored by consumers due to its various functional activities, such as regulating the gastrointestinal tract, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant properties. However, the production of honey is far less than the market demand for it, so driven by interests, honey is often adulterated, leading to quality deterioration. The adulteration of honey seriously undermines its natural attributes, having a negative impact on the honey industry. To safeguard the interests of consumers and producers, uphold the industry’s reputation, and promote its sustainable development, it is crucial to establish and improve methods for assessing honey authenticity. This article reviews the major methods for identifying the authenticity of honey, including traditional analytical techniques, targeted and non-targeted analytical techniques. In particular, the characteristic components in honey have been used for the identification of honey authenticity in recent years, which is achieved directly by analyzing the overall properties and chemical characteristics of honey are consistent with each other or not, but not relying on any prior knowledge of the adulterants. This paper aims to provide theoretical references for the authenticity identification of honey.

Key words: honey; adulteration; authenticity; characteristic components; identification methods