The dielectric properties of pure yellow locust, jujube and rape flower honey and their water-adulterated products with water content from 18% to 42.6% were measured with open-ended coaxial-line probe technology and a network analyzer from 10 to 4500 MHz at 25 degrees C. Dielectric constants of pure honeys and water-added honey samples decreased monotonically with increasing frequency, and increased with increasing water content. Dielectric relaxation was evident in the dielectric loss factors. The critical frequency and the maximum loss factor increased with increasing water content. There were strong linear correlations between the dielectric constant and the total soluble solids and water contents. The linear coefficients of determination were higher than 0.995 from 650 to 960 MHz. The good linear correlations and the sufficient penetration depth >20 mm below 960 MHz, suggest that microwave dielectric properties could be used in developing sensors to determine sugar and water contents. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.