Microbiological and physical-chemical characteristics of honeys from the bee Melipona fasciculata produced in two regions of Brazil

Abstract

The honey from Tiúba bees (Melipona fasciculata) is commercially important in the Brazilian state of Maranhão. However, the absence of any specific legislation for this kind of honey is an obstacle to its increased production and commercialization. Determining the microbiological and physical-chemical characteristics of different Tiúba honey can inform the elaboration of specific legislation. Thus, honey samples from two Water Catchment Areas in Maranhão (Munim and Pericumã, sample size 20 for each) were collected and submitted for microbiological analysis (total coliforms, thermotolerant coliforms, molds and yeasts, Clostridium sulfite reducers and Salmonella sp.) and physical-chemical analysis (moisture content, reducing and non-reducing sugars, insoluble and soluble solids, ash content, acidity and pH). Most of honeys sampled were suitable for human consumption, except for one sample from Pericumã. Honeys from the two water catchment areas presented differences in some physicochemical characteristics, which can be attributed to the botanic, soil and climatic diversity of the two areas. Still, these Tiúba honey samples did not fall within the Brazilian legislation for Apis mellifera honey for some of the physical-chemical characteristics, and so is not properly regulated, thus reinforcing the need for specific legislation for this type of honey.

Physicochemical and Microbiological Standards of Honey Produced by Genus Melipona

“…Few studies have analyzed the content of insoluble solids in stingless honey, which makes comparisons difficult. However, Vit et al (2016) mentions that for Tetragonisca the content of insoluble solids was 0.06 ± 0.02% which coincides with that published for honeys from Brazil, which is associated with the implementation of good practices during honey management, while Fernandes et al (2018) reported 0.09 -0. 11 % for M. facsiculata.…”

Management practices and honey characteristics of Melipona eburnea in the Peruvian Amazon

“…When the quality parameters of stingless bee honey were compared with those for the western honey bee Apis mellifera in the Codex Alimentarius, the moisture content of stingless bee honey (30.91%, SD = 3.26) was above the maximum allowed for A. mellifera (<20%), whereas total sugars (53.33 g/100 g honey, SD = 5.52) were below the minimum required for honey from A. mellifera (>60 g/100 g honey). Studies conducted on honeys from different species of stingless bees in Peru (RODRÍGUEZ-MALAVER et al, 2009) and elsewhere (BILUCA et al, 2016;GOMES et al, 2017;LEMOS et al, 2017;FERNANDES et al, 2018) exhibited similar characteristics, which emphasizes the necessity to establish a technical standard specific to honey from stingless bees. Moisture is one of the parameters important for quality as it is related to the fermentation of honey.…”

“…Here, meliponiculture could be integrated into agroforestry plantations, where it would facilitate pollination and thus increase crop production (GIANNINI et al, 2015;GARIBALDI et al, 2016). Management techniques for increasing honey production for stingless bees have been studied outside Peru with non-Peruvian species (KOFFLER et al, 2015;VENTURIERI et al, 2018;JAFFÉ et al, 2015), whereas honey quality based on physicochemical and microbiological characteristics has been studied both in Peru (RODRÍGUEZ-MALAVER et al, 2009) and elsewhere (LAGE et al, 2012;VIT, 2013;LEMOS et al, 2017;FERNANDES et al, 2018).…”

Honey from Tiúba stingless bees (Melipona fasciculata) produced in different ecosystems: physical and sensory studies

“…For this study, samples of honey from Tiúba stingless bees ( Melipona fasciculata ) were taken from 40 samples collected in the Brazilian state of Maranhão, whose microbiologial and physical–chemical characterizations had been previously published . Samples were taken from different regions of the Water Catchment Areas, for evaluating influences of vegetation and edaphoclimatic conditions on characterization of the honeys.…”

“…There is no specific legislation for Melipona fasciculata honey, which makes the production and commercialization of honey from meliponines more difficult. Few studies about the properties of honey from Melipona fasciculata were found in the literature, 10,[13][14][15][16][17] and a comprehensive review about stingless bees, published in 2018, only presents two studies about Melipona fasciculata. 18 Moreover, only one study about the sensory properties of such honey was found.…”