Determination of chemical elements in africanized Apis mellifera (Hymenoptera: Apidae) honey samples from the State of Piauí, Brazil

Abstract

Recebido em 28/6/06; aceito em 30/8/06; publicado na web em 27/4/07Honey is a food used since the most remote times, appreciated for its characteristic flavor, considerable nutritional value and medicinal properties; however, little information exists about the presence of chemical elements in it. The objectives of this work were to determine the chemical elements present in 38 honey samples, collected directly from beekeepers from the State of Piauí, Brazil and to verify whether they presented any contamination. The chemical elements were determined by means of Total Reflection Xray Fluorescence. The means of three replicates were:

Classification of Brazilian honeys by physical and chemical analytical methods and low field nuclear magnetic resonance (LF 1H NMR)

“…In this study, the percentage of reducing sugars in the samples ranged from 66.2 g/100 g to 80.1 g/100 g. Our findings were similar to those of Ouchemoukh, Louaileche, and Schweitzer (2007). The values found for total sugar content in this study ranged from 66.7 to 85.4 g/100 g. These levels are close to those obtained by Arruda, Marchini, Moreti, Otsuk, and Sodré (2005), Komatsu, Marchini, and Moreti (2002), Moreti, Sodré, Marchini, and Otsuk (2009), and Sodré et al (2007), who found total sugar contents of 67.8e88.3 g/ 100 g for Brazilian honey samples of different floral origins.…”

Seasonal variation in trace and minor elements in Brazilian honey by total reflection X-ray fluorescence

“…These values are lower than those recorded in other studies such as 3.1 μg.g −1 Özcan et al (2006) and 1.5 μg.g −1 Nalda et al (2005). Sodré et al (2007) found a maximum value of 0.3 μg.g −1 in Brazilian honeys, which is much closer to our results. This can probably be explained by the acid characteristics of Europeans honeys, with pH values different from Brazilian honeys (Paramás et al 2000;Juszczak et al 2009).…”

“…The high Ca values in samples collected in Teresópolis differ considerably from values recorded in other studies (Marchini et al 2005;Sodré et al 2007, Santos et al 2008. Sodré et al (2007) found a maximum calcium concentration of 76.8 μg.g -1 .…”

“…The recorded values were higher than those reported by Hernandez et al (2005) and Terrab et al (2005), both with mean values of 0.4 μg.g −1 . In Brazil, the highest concentrations were found by Sodré et al (2007) in Piauí honeys, with an average of 0.5 μg.g −1 . The high concentrations found here may be related to the proximity of rocky terrain to the apiary.…”

“…Sodré et al (2007) found a maximum calcium concentration of 76.8 μg.g -1 . This was lower than values found in the Teresópolis samples, where the minimum was 174.5 μg.g −1 in fall and the maximum was 1027.2 μg.g −1 in summer.…”