Ijfs12140.Pdf
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
1698 International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2013, 48, 1698–1706 Original article Comparative study of the physicochemical and palynological characteristics of honey from Melipona subnitida and Apis mellifera Ligia B. de Almeida-Muradian,1 Klaus M. Stramm,1 Andreia Horita,1 Ortrud M. Barth,2 Alex da Silva de Freitas2 & Leticia M. Estevinho3* 1 Pharmaceutical Science School, University of Sao Paulo, Av. Prof. Lineu Prestes, 580, bloco 14, CEP 05508-900, Sao~ Paulo, Brazil 2 Instituto Oswaldo Cruz, FIOCRUZ, Avenida Brasil 4365, Rio de Janeiro, 21040-900, Brazil 3 CIMO-Mountain Research Center, Agricultural College of Bragancßa, Polytechnic Institute of Bragancßa, Campus Santa Apolonia, Bragancßa, E 5301-855, Portugal (Received 14 October 2012; Accepted in revised form 25 February 2013) Summary Twenty-four samples of Apis mellifera honey and twenty-four samples of Melipona subnitida (Jandaira) honey were collected in the northeast of Brazil. Moisture, hydroxymethylfurfural, free acidity, insoluble solids in water, diastase activity, ashes, electrical conductivity, proteins, lipids, total carbohydrates, energy and sugars were the parameters analysed. The efficiency of the qualitative tests (Fiehe’s test, Lugol’s reac- tion, Lund’s reaction) was tested. Pollen types and the corresponding plant species were identified in all samples (3 in Apis and 1 in Melipona). Apis mellifera honey samples demonstrated parameters in accor- dance with the Brazilian Legislation, while the Melipona subnitida honey samples displayed moisture (24.80%) and diastase activity (null) in discordance with the established by the regulation for Apis mellif- era honeys. Apis honey samples presented higher values of electric conductivity (284.00 lScmÀ1) than the obtained from the Jandaira honey samples (102.77 lScmÀ1) as well as a darker colour (26.67 mmPfund) when compared with Jandaira honey (7.00 mmPfund). The concentration of the glucose, fructose and sucrose was higher in the Apis honeys than in the Jandaira honey. The characteristics of the two types of honey were very different, highlighting the need of developing specific legislation for stingless bees’ honey. Keywords Apis mellifera, Melipona honey, Melipona subnitida, nutritional value, palynological analysis, physicochemical analysis. Introduction According to Basualdo et al. (2007), the physical and Honey’s elaboration starts with the nectar collected chemical properties strongly influence the healing from many plants, which honeybees transform and capacity of honey. It has been used not only in foods combine with their own specific substances, store and and beverages as a sweetener and flavouring, but also leave to mature in honeycombs. This natural product is in medicine since the early humans. The role of this generally composed of a complex mixture of carbohy- product in the treatment of burns, gastrointestinal drates and other less frequent substances, such as disorders, respiratory illnesses, infected and chronic organic acids, amino acids, proteins, minerals, wounds, skin ulcers and cancer has been studied vitamins, lipids, aroma compounds, flavonoids, vita- recently by many researchers (Castaldo & Capasso, mins, pigments, waxes, pollen grains, several enzymes 2002; Orhan et al., 2003; Ramalhosa et al., 2011). and other phytochemicals (Gomes et al., 2010; Lazar- Some authors even state the higher activity of honey evic et al., 2010). However, the specific composition over well-known antibiotics (Malika et al., 2005; depends on many factors, such as the nectar composi- Estevinho et al., 2011). The antimicrobial effectiveness tion of the source plant, bees’ species, the climate, reported have been evaluated with diverse sets of environmental and seasonal conditions, agricultural methodologies, degrees of sensitivity and microbial practices and treatment of honey during extraction and strains, what leads to difficulties comparing results storage (Marchini et al., 2006; Iglesias et al., 2012). from work teams (Vargas et al., 2007). Two types of honey are produced and commercia- *Correspondent: E-mail: [email protected] lised in Brazil: the traditional Apis melifera honey doi:10.1111/ijfs.12140 © 2013 The Authors. International Journal of Food Science and Technology © 2013 Institute of Food Science and Technology Comparison of two honey types L. B. de Almeida-Muradian et al. 1699 and that produced by the stingless bees (e.g. Melip- Honey samples ona subnitida). The first, the Africanised honeybee, is the most widespread species in Brazil (Araujo et al., Twenty-four samples of Melipona subnitida honey were 2006) and is the most intensely studied (Nogueira- harvested from beehives located in the city of Jandaira Neto et al., 1986). The latter is a bee specie from the (05º21′21″ S, 36º07′40″ W), and twenty-four samples of northeast of Brazil (Jandaira region), being found in Apis melifera honey were collected in the same botani- beehives and in rural and urban zones (Carvalho cal region. The samples were homogenised and kept in et al., 2001). glass flasks of 250 mL. After honeys’ harvest, the sam- Stingless bees’ honey is completely different from ples were delivered to the laboratory, where they were that produced by the bees of the genus Apis (Vit stored in a dark place at room temperature (Æ20 °C) et al., 2004). The demand for this product has until analysis, which occurred in no more than one increased recently, being the commercial value higher month after the extraction from the hives by beekeep- than the one of Apis melifera honey. However, the ers. All the samples showed no sign of fermentation or lack of complete studies regarding the physicochemi- spoilage. cal characteristics of the stingless bees’ honey ham- pers the definition of quality patterns and standards Palynological analysis (Kerr et al., 1996). Indeed, the current legislation, both internationally and in Brazil, concerning the The samples were subjected to qualitative pollen beehive products is only directed to the Apis melifera analysis, as recommended by Louveaux et al. (1978), products. In addition, little information is found in Barth (1989, 2005) and Von der Ohe et al., 2004;. the literature about the botanical sources that sting- Ten grams of each sample were dissolved in distilled less bees utilise to collect nectar and pollen (Barth water, and the sediment was concentrated by et al., 2012). repeated centrifuging 15′ at 1500 rpm. The precipitate This study aimed to evaluate the composition of was washed in distilled water, centrifuged and glycer- Melipona subnitida and Apis melifera honeys through ine water (1:1) was added for 30′. After this stage, the use of physicochemical analyses. In parallel, paly- the material was centrifuged, decanted, and the sedi- nological analysis was carried out. It was also intended ment was prepared using not-stained glycerine jelly. to find out whether the obtained parameters for the Pollen grains slides were observed using light and stingless bees’ honey were in concordance with the polarised light microscopy at 4009 magnification, in Apis mellifera honey’s Legislations established both order to identify the pollen types. The recognition of nationally and internationally. Indeed, the quality the pollen types was based on the reference collection control of honey has two principle purposes: to verify of the Palynology Laboratory of the Federal Univer- its genuineness and to reveal possible frauds such as sity of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and on specific litera- artificial honeys and adulterations. The detailed char- ture (Barth, 1989; Roubik & Moreno, 1991; Moreti acterisation performed in this work will contribute to et al., 2002). The definition of pollen classes the enhancement of legal specifications regarding the presented by Zander (Louveaux et al., 1978) was stingless bees’ honey as well as to improve the current used for qualitative and quantitative analyses. The regulations for Apis melifera honey. following terms were used for pollen frequency clas- ses: predominant pollen (PP, more than 45% of pol- len grains counted), secondary pollen (SP, 16–45%), Materials and methods important minor pollen (IMP, 3–15%) and minor pollen (<3%). Chemicals and materials All the chemical reagents used were purchased from Physicochemical analyses Sigma Chemical Co. (St. Louis, MO, USA) and were of analytical grade. The water was purified using a Physicochemical parameters were analysed using The Milli-Q purification system (Millipore, Bedford, MA, Official Methods of Analysis of Association of USA). The equipments were as follows: Shimadzu Official Analytical Chemists (AOAC, 1990), The UV-Visible Spectrophotometer – UV -1650 PC; Kruss€ Harmonised Methods of the European Honey -Digital Hand-held Refractometer DR 201-95; Hanna Commission (Bogdanov et al., 1997) and the Codex C221 honey color analyzer; conductivimeter Crison- Alimentarius Codex Alimentarius (CAS, 2001). These EC-Meter Basic 30+, micro Kjehdahl system, Tecnal- methodologies are also the recommended by TE-0363; Soxhlet extraction using Tecnal-SEBELIN Brazilian legislation (Almeida-Muradian et al., 2002). TE-188 and the HPLC Shimadzu- Prominence with Samples were analysed in triplicate and during the Refractive Index detector model RID-10A for sugar same time period to ensure uniform conditions and analysis. comparability. © 2013 The Authors International Journal of Food Science and Technology 2013 International Journal of Food Science and Technology © 2013 Institute of Food Science and Technology 1700 Comparison of two honey types L. B. de Almeida-Muradian